Like Toy Soldiers
by FriendlyLittleDemon
Summary: "What are you so afraid of! You're Daryl freaking Dixon! The man who has personally walked through almost an entire forest looking for a little girl even when all the others had given up hope on finding her... And the man who's running away because he can't deal with his feelings. It's sad and pathetic." "Hey, I ain't runnin' away from nothin!" "Oh, yeah? Then prove it to me."
1. Chapter 1 Redneck with a crossbow

**Author's Note: FLD! What the hell are you doing?! You already have so many stories; why are you writing another one?! Well, I'll tell you :3 So, recently I have been working on getting into college and all that when I realize what I want to do with my life: work in movies. I love acting and writing film scripts and all that and one of my main inspirations? Definitely has to be Norman Reedus. That man plays so many villain roles (Mac, Marco, Nate, etc) and very few nice guy roles (my favorite by far being Murphy McManus) that it's such a nice change to see him playing Daryl Dixon. As an avid zombie film lover, added with my love for Norman's films, it was simply inevitable that I would write a Walking Dead fic. So here I am :3 Hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: Do not own the rights to Walking Dead. That honor goes to Robert Kirkman, the genius...**

* * *

Chapter 1 "Redneck with a Crossbow"

No one ever forgot what they were doing when something bad happens somewhere in the world. For Murphy Singer, she remembered what she was eating for breakfast on September 11th; it wasn't too hard to recall what she'd been doing on the day of the first signs of the Apocalypse beginning. She'd been getting ready to go over the final draft of her thesis paper in order to get her doctorate. Murphy was the type of person that hated silence, so she usually worked on her living room couch with the TV on, frequently flicked to the news channel in Augusta, Georgia for background noise. She barely even took notice to the news anchor reporting about how people were suddenly going insane and eating other people's faces off; she now realized how stupid it was of her to ignore it. How useless it was to simply continue overlooking a paper that she would never get the chance to turn in. But she definitely knew better now. She now knew how useful it would have been to begin gathering supplies for an emergency bag. She wished that she had been paying attention to the television for once.

Now Murphy wasn't thinking about her life before the Apocalypse much anymore. She was just trying to survive now. Lucky for her, she had been taken in by a nice group of people that she'd met after she got into Atlanta; after the military started dropping napalm in the street. She feared that she wouldn't be able to get out of the city alive, much less with all of her limbs attached. Then she met the Vatos; while they were all big and tough gangster-looking men, they were really a bunch of softies that took care of the elderly that were left behind in the nursing home. Murphy had laughed in the face of the leader, Guillermo when she'd been told of this. But eventually, she began to pitch in and actually help out; she took some of the men under wing and taught them basic medical skills in order for them to take care of the elderly when she eventually found a way out of the city. She didn't want to leave the people behind, but her father had told her before he died that if Atlanta was no longer safe to find a way to get to either the CDC or Fort Benning. She figured that the least she could do was to honor his wishes and go to the places he thought were the safest. Now, all she needed was the means of transportation and bullets for her gun. Both were very much hard to come by in the event of the Apocalypse, she had long since learned.

* * *

"What the hell is this?" Murphy asked, watching in amazement as two large Mexican men dragged a struggling Asian into the retirement home. Not only was she surprised that they were bringing in an Asian that couldn't be any older than 30, at the least 24. No, she was also surprised to see that Felipe had an arrow sticking out of his ass like he'd just been shot by Cupid or some shit like that. Guillermo stood next to her with just as much surprise, but managed to mask it better than she did. His mouth wasn't hanging on the ground like a goddamn idiot, like Murphy's was, anyways.

"We were jumped on the way to get the guns, man." Jorge managed to inform as he roughly pushed the Asian forward, whom had taken to looking around at the old men and women walking through the hall they stood in rather than fighting against the Mexican man any longer. "Some redneck shot Felipe in the ass!"

"Yeah, I can see that. C'mon, Felipe. Let's go get that looked at." Murphy grunted with a roll of her eyes as she turned and stalked down the hall towards the room that had basically become her office. "Maybe you can explain to me how the hell you were stupid enough to get shot in the ass with an arrow."

As soon as they entered the office, Murphy had Felipe lean forward on her examination table. He, being a species of the opposite gender, swore and protested vehemently of having her be the one to remove the arrow.

"Chica, it's not necessary! I can do it myself!" Felipe said nervously as he backed away from her slightly.

"Stop being a goddamn baby, Felipe! You know you wouldn't be able to pull that damn thing out on your own and stitch up the wound, so just lean on the damn table and stop making a big deal out of nothing." She roughly took his arm and tugged the surprised man towards the table. For such a tiny woman, she certainly was pretty strong. Once he'd braced himself with his stomach laying on the crinkly white paper on the examination table Murphy turned and walked towards the cabinet that housed her sewing kit and her scissors. Along the way, she continued to grumble to herself. "Honestly, for such big, bad gangsters, you men are all the same. Seriously, Felipe, I'm a _doctor_; a surgeon at that. I've seen more than one ass in my life time, for christ's sake." She wrinkled her freckled nose at him when he looked at her over his shoulder.

"We know, Murphy, but... It's embarrassing, okay?" He sighed, looking away as she began to take her scissors to the area around where the arrow stuck out of his ass.

"Whatever you have to say to sleep peacefully at night." Murphy muttered in return, barely looking away from the bloody wound created by the arrow. She wondered briefly who the hell had been walking around with a damn bow and arrow during the Apocalypse, but she supposed that it was a smarter idea. You know, considering the fact that any noise attracted the flesh eating monsters like a moth to a bug zapper. "Now, I'm gonna need to pull this out to get a better look at the wound, so take a deep breath and think 'bout something else, 'kay?" She said pleasantly as she took a firm hold of the weapon with one hand while placing the other on Felipe's lower back for leverage.

"Wait, what?" Before he could even protest, the weapon was yanked out and Felipe was howling in pain. "Girl, what the hell?!"

"Shut it. I don't got time to be gentle with you now, Felipe, so don't even expect it at this point." She said bluntly before she placed the arrow tip down in a long cup of water she'd prepared before hand. She picked up a gauze pad and quickly placed it over the wound before the blood could gush out any further. She was now glad that she'd already placed gloves on her hands; she hadn't expected that much blood to come out. "Tell me what happened."

"I don't want to talk about it." Felipe grunted as he looked straight ahead at the opposite wall.

"Too fucking bad. You're gonna need a distraction for when I start stitching, so you better get over it and start spilling the beans." Murphy replied as she lifted the gauze slightly and took a look at the blood flow; it had slowed slightly, so she was confident enough that she could take her hand away from him and he wouldn't bleed to death while she cleared the remaining blood away with a cloth that she'd poured a decent amount of peroxide on. She continued her scolding once she began to prepare her thread and needle for stitches. "Swallow your damn pride for once."

"Well, shit... Fine." Felipe then proceeded to tell her of how he, his younger cousin Miguel, and Jorge had been tasked in going to get the fabled bag of guns in the middle of the city. He'd yelped once she began to stitch his behind closed, but didn't object and continued with his story. They both knew very well that they didn't have very much in the way of morphine, so it was no secret that it wouldn't be used in this surgery. He would get some pain killers after she was done, he knew.

"Wish I'd been there." Murphy smirked, placing a fresh gauze pad over the neatly stitched wound. "Would've shaken the man's hand."

"Not funny, chica." Felipe rolled his eyes at her comment, but he knew she was just joking around. That was her way in any sort of situation; to crack a joke and brighten the atmosphere with her wise-ass cracks.

"I thought it was." She pouted as she placed tape over the gauze and proceeded to strip her bloodied gloves off and went to wash her hands mechanically. With a sigh, she continued. "I used dissolving stitches, so they should go away on their own. But take it easy for a few days, okay? Don't move. I'll get you some more pants, an wet rag, and some kickass pain killers." She cheerfully patted his back and walked out of the room.

* * *

A few hours later, Murphy had been informed by Guillermo that they had competition for the bag of guns. A sheriff, as it would seem, with his backup being the redneck who had shot Felipe and a large black man. They had taken Miguel hostage, much like they had done for the Asian, whom had been introduced to her as Glenn.

Currently, Murphy was sitting with the elderly and Glenn in the rec room, one of the teacup chihuahuas placed in her lap as she conversed with their apparent company.

"Pizza delivery, huh? Kinda impressive." Murphy mused with a smirk to the Asian next to her on the stage located behind where Mr. Gilbert and Felipe's grandmother (affectionately named by all as Abuela) sat playing a calming game of checkers.

"Not as impressive as frequent surgery." Glenn replied with a small shrug of his shoulders.

She nodded with a small hum. "More like in training. Before all this, I was working on my thesis for a doctorate. Had barely finished it before the world started goin' to hell. That, my friend, is eight years of medical school gone to shit."

"I wouldn't say that." He smiled in return. "I mean, medical care is pretty useful now-a-days. You know, since the dead are walking and we're on our own practically? No more hospitals and all."

"Yeah, suppose you're right." Murphy agreed, knowing that the Asian was, indeed, right. People out there were getting hurt left and right, so having a person with medical school on their resume around was pretty awesome. It's why the Vatos had been so quick to take her in when they first met her. Well, she thought so, anyways. It definitely wasn't because of her stunning personality and looks. It had to be for her skills.

A choking sound caused both Murphy and Glenn to snap their heads to the side to see Mr. Gilbert having an asthma attack. Murphy jumped to attention, vaguely taking notice of the yip the chihuahua let out.

"Abuela, please, can you find your grandson and bring him here quickly? He has Mr. Gilbert's inhaler and I have to stay with him." Murphy quickly asked the old woman as she knelt beside the old man. Before she could blink, Abuela was out the door and rushing off to find Felipe.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Glenn questioned worriedly, watching as Murphy mumbled softly to the old man.

The Mexican standing beside him, whom Murphy had called Carlito earlier, replied quietly. "Si. Murphy just needs to keep him calm until Abuela gets back with Felipe."

Not too long after that, the old lady came tottering back in with Felipe right behind her, as well as three men that Murphy didn't recognize, but Glenn definitely did. She could only assume that these were the men that had been the ones that were trying to take the bag of guns earlier. Murphy quickly moved out of the way and stood behind Mr. Gilbert, rubbing his shoulders comfortingly as Felipe approached with the old man's inhaler.

"Just breathe. Just relax." Felipe said automatically as soon as the inhaler was working its magic. Murphy smiled in content at seeing Mr. Gilbert slowly fall back into how he was before, but she quickly turned her attention to the new guests when they began arguing with Glenn.

"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man!" The black man scowled and Glenn raised an eyebrow at him, turning to look at the three chihuahuas sitting in their doggy bed a few feet away. One of them stood and yipped loudly.

"Could I have a word with you?" The sheriff asked Guillermo angrily, but before they could walk off down the hall, the leader of the Vatos turned to look at Murphy with raised eyebrows, motioning his head for her to follow. She nodded and held up a finger, so he turned and led the new comers and Glenn down the hall to an empty office. Murphy could understand why Guillermo wanted her to follow; she had become his unofficial second-in-command over the month she'd lived there. When he wasn't around, people went to her with their questions and concerns. She had let him handle this little problem concerning the guns this far because she figured it wouldn't be very threatening to them to go against a petite, pasty skinned woman rather than a fairly tall and muscular tattooed Mexican gang leader.

After she made sure that Mr. Gilbert was feeling better and in capable hands with Felipe, she made her way down the hall to where Guillermo was with the strangers. She caught the sheriff's next question as she walked into the room as she nervously pulled on the sleeves of her baggy gray knit sweater.

"What about the rest of your crew?"

"The Vatos come and go." Murphy answered before Guillermo could as she announced her presence to the men. They all turned their attention to her and she pursed her lips nervously before she continued. "They check in on their relatives...some stay, some leave. Some we don't even expect to come back after a couple weeks. I'm always happy when they stay, though." She smiled and took a seat in the comfortable chair next to Guillermo, still playing with the edges of her sweater. "It's good to have the big meat heads around."

Guillermo rolled his eyes at her wording and turned to the slightly confused sheriff. "What Murphy means is that we need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart, the worst kind...plunderers. The kind that take by force."

"That's not who we are." The sheriff replied vehemently.

"That's not the point." Murphy stated with a nonchalant shrug. "Your redneck over there?" She nodded her head to the narrow eyed man holding his crossbow like it was attached to his arm and received a glare in return. "I'm assuming he's the one that shot Felipe in the ass. Not to mention, you took little Miguel as a hostage. What'd you expect us to do?" She had a point and the strangers knew it.

"Guess the world changed." The black man replied seriously.

"No." Guillermo remarked with a shake of his head. "It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken. So we do what we can here. The Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves."

"Hey, it keeps them busy, G." Murphy told him softly with a small smile. "It's better than them out in the city trying to take the Freaks down." She turned to look back towards the sheriff with that same smile. "The rest of us that know nothing 'bout cars? We barred up all the windows, got the doors all welded shut but that one entrance."

"The Vatos, they go out; scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait. The people here; they all look to me now and when they can't find me, they go to Murphy here. I don't even know why."

"Because they can." The sheriff remarked with conviction, handing over the shotgun he held in his hands. Murphy smiled at that, but took notice of the redneck's annoyance at them.

"Murphy, why don't you go and round up some medical supplies for them to take as payment?" Guillermo offered as he glanced at her. He and the sheriff, whom had introduced himself as Rick had been dividing up the bag of guns and ammunition.

"Oh, that's not needed." Rick quickly refused, but the redneck wasted no time in jumping in.

"Like hell it's not." He scowled from where he was leaning against the wall by the door. "You're givin' 'em half our guns an' bullets. Least they can do is hand over some medical shit."

"He's right." Murphy shrugged, standing and wiping her hands on her ripped jeans in habit. "We have some stuff we can spare. I'll get right on it, G." She confirmed her understanding of the order as she headed out the door and walked towards the main storage room.

Using the key from her pocket, she unlocked the door and stepped into the room with a small sigh. She was the only one with the key. It was merely for security reasons, but Guillermo didn't like it. If someone ever wanted to take their supplies, they wouldn't hesitate to attack Murphy once they knew she had the only entrance into the room. What Guillermo didn't seem to understand was that she knew how to take care of herself and she'd rather that she have the key and not put anyone else at risk.

"Why are you here?" A voice from behind her caused her to jump in surprise, causing the package of bandages she was holding to fly through the air and drop to the ground behind her. She snapped around with wide brown eyes to see that it was the redneck. He was staring at her with obvious amusement in his blue eyes.

"Dammit, what's wrong with you? You don't sneak up on people like that! Shit." She cursed as she bent and retrieved the bandages from the floor. "What the fuck are you doin' anyways?"

"Rick wanted me to keep an eye on ya'." He answered bluntly, propping himself up against the door frame as he continued to watch her stuff more of the "medical shit" into a small black back pack she had found in one of the cupboards. After a moment of silence, he spoke up once more. "You didn't answer my question."

"Why I'm here? Well, it started with a meeting between a man and a woman. They fell in love, got married. And you see, when two people love each other so much, they-"

"Stop." He snapped, knowing where she was going with her dialogue. She smirked and giggled lightly at his glare, but continued working nonetheless. "You know what I meant."

"You mean with the Vatos? They took me in when I needed them. Plain and simple. No big story behind it." Murphy shrugged nonchalantly and could feel his eyes on her back as she continued to work in an uncomfortable silence. She was slightly unnerved by his staring, but didn't let him see that it bothered her. She wasn't used to being stared at; she wasn't exactly what most people in Georgia considered to be "the perfect woman". These Georgian men seem to be more attracted to the tall, tooth-pick thin, gorgeous, male-dependent kind of woman. The only thing that Murphy would ever associate herself with any point on that list would be the fact that she was skinny; she used to try to _gain_ weight, while others tried to _lose_ it in high school. Other than that, Murphy wasn't much to look at; she was short with small breasts and a small ass. So it was curious why someone as manly looking as the redneck would be staring at her for. Didn't help that he was pretty handsome, even with all the sweat and dirt covering him; the man literally looked like he'd crawled out of the woods before he came into the town. Murphy could honestly say without shame that when she imagined a man, this redneck came pretty damn close to her definition.

"Why do you stay?" His voice broke through her thoughts, but his question confused her. She turned to look at him with raised eyebrows and a curious frown. "Here. Doubt they really need a doc too much around here. These people would drop dead with or without ya'."

"You should respect your elders." She returned blankly and went back to placing a few tubes of different ointments and sun screen into the bag. "I stay because I have no way out of the city. When I find a way, I'm heading for either the CDC or Fort Benning. I don't know these people well enough to stick around and risk my own skin. It's only a matter of time before some other group comes through and wants to take over. They'll be bigger, faster, and stronger. I can already see it coming." The last sentence was spoken with a sad frown, but the redneck could see that she had already come to terms with what would happen if she stuck around the place for much longer. She'd probably been planning for her leaving since she first got to the damn place.

"Can't just make a run for it?"

"If I wanted to die, sure." She smirked cheekily, zipping the bag up and closing the cupboard she'd just been in. "I've got a gun, yeah, but bullets can only get you so far. I'd rather have a safe passage that's guaranteed." As she made to walk past him and out the door to head back to where Guillermo and the others were, she paused thoughtfully and turned to look up at the tall man standing beside her. "I never got your name."

"Never gave it." He grunted back easily and there was a pregnant awkward silence that followed as the two just continued to stare at each other blankly. Finally after a full minute of that silence, he opened his mouth. "Daryl Dixon."

She smirked with a nod of her head. "Murphy Singer." With that, the petite brunette turned and trotted out of the room without another word. Daryl stared after her curiously; she was a strange woman. She stared him down until he gave her what she wanted; not many women would look at him in the first place, let alone look him in the eye like that. Then again, it'd been a long time since he'd been around any women that didn't look down their nose at him. He wasn't pointing any fingers, but if he got one more snooty glare from that Lori bitch, he'd be the first one in line to shoot her straight through the skull. It's safe to say that he was far from ever considering taking her on as an ally. She'd sooner sacrifice him than help him out in a jam and he knew it; he was just some redneck trailer trash that was only good for food and protection. It's why the group put up with Merle for so long; he and his brother always came as a package deal and everyone knew that. Daryl didn't necessarily know what he'd do now that Merle was gone. Should he stay with the group or try to make it on his own? He figured he'd make the decision on the way back to camp.

* * *

"Alright." Murphy grinned as she handed the bag in her hand over to T-Dog. "This bag has everything you could possibly need in case of an emergency. Sutures, bandages, ointments... Only thing it doesn't have is antibiotics, sadly enough."

"Why no antibiotics?" The black man couldn't help but to ask her.

"Hmm? Oh, uh... We kinda don't have any. Well, not anymore. I had to give the last ones to Felipe when he came back with an arrow in his ass." She said this all cheerfully and turned away so quickly that T-Dog didn't have the chance to question her further. He raised his eyebrows as he watched the petite woman head over to talk to Guillermo; she was definitely a strange one.

* * *

"So what's up?" Murphy asked their fearless leader once she'd reached him. Guillermo had motioned her over when she was talking to T-Dog and she was curious as to what he needed to talk to her about now. Guillermo wasn't really one to talk on a leisurely basis, so she knew it was probably something important.

"Maybe you should consider going with them when they leave, chica." He told her bluntly and she had to raise her eyebrows at his simple statement. "You're always telling me that you'll leave as soon as you get the chance. Well, here's your chance."

"G, I know I said that, but you guys need me here." Murphy sighed with a shake of her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You've been training Felipe and Miguel since you got here."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean a damn thing when they've only been training for a fucking month, G, and you know it."

"They know enough to keep us alive, Murphy." Guillermo sighed, placing his hands gently on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye seriously. He was determined for her to get his point. "I was talking with Rick. They have no medic. They need someone looking out for them out there. We'll be fine on our own."

"And it's safe to say that you already asked Rick to take me with them?" She raised a sarcastic eyebrow and was not surprised when Guillermo nodded his head in affirmation to her question. She didn't even have to ask to know the answer and they both knew it. "Are you sure, G? I can stick around for a few more days before taking off."

"Chica, you said that when you first got here. It's been a month since then and you're still here. Now, Rick and his crew are willing to take you with them, but you need to get your stuff and leave."

"Trying to get rid of me now?" She finally smirked, knowing that he was right. This could be her only chance to get out. Sure, she'd miss the people in the retirement home, but she had to think of herself for once. She knew that she could survive better outside better than being cooped up with the elderly all day. She'd be able to do more for the group she was in and she knew it. She hated feeling helpless, knowing that at any moment people or even Freaks could come bursting through the doors and take them all out in one fell swoop. She was selfish, she knew that. But with the world being the way it was, you kind of had to be selfish to stay alive now-a-days.

Guillermo only smirked and shoved her shoulders lightly away from him. She grinned and turned, heading towards the room that she'd claimed as her own, right next to her office. Along the way, she walked past Daryl, Rick, and Glenn and turned, walking backwards as she spoke to them.

"Hey, Rick? Thanks for letting me leech off of you." She said cheekily and he chuckled, shaking his head at her.

"No problem, Murphy." Her answer was a simple smile before she continued on to gather her belongings.

Her statement and Rick's easy going answer instantly made Glenn and Daryl curious. They both turned to him with expectant raised eyebrows, though Daryl's eyes were a tad bit more narrowed.

"What'd she mean?" Glenn asked after a quick moment of silence.

"Guillermo mentioned that she's been wantin' to get out of here for a while now. I know we don't have a doctor at camp, so I figured she'd be a great asset to the group." Rick told them bluntly as he reached up, wiping the sweat from his forehead absently.

"An' another mouth to feed." Daryl scowled back. It was easily said that he wasn't too keen on bringing back another woman when they'd come into the city to get Merle in the first place. Admittedly, he knew that there would be no less food lost or gained if they'd brought back his brother instead of this woman they'd just barely met; although, he was sure that Merle ate a hell of a lot more than Murphy Singer did. Girl was as skinny as Lori and that was saying something.

"You can grumble about it all ya' want, Daryl." Rick sighed, placing his hands on his hips firmly. "But she's comin' with or without your agreement."

"Fine. But you're the one to look after 'er when shit hits the fan for us." He grunted back moodily, his arms raising to cross over his chest grumpily. He was being pigheaded about not bringing this girl and he knew it, but it still pissed him off that instead of his brother, they were taking home this little slip of a woman. He was also pissed that they hadn't found Merle; he was pissed that his brother hadn't just stayed put for once in his damn life. Daryl was just pissed all around. And anyone that knew him well enough knew that he'd take his anger out on the person responsible for his anger. So, it was no secret that he automatically did not like Murphy Singer when she bounced to a stop next to them, now wearing a black tank top instead of the sweater she'd worn earlier. She had a small backpack thrown over her shoulder, but Glenn's eyes had immediately gone to the gun strapped to her thigh on a holster.

"Whoa, packing heat. Where'd you get that?" The Asian asked curiously.

Murphy looked down at her thigh before she smiled simply back at him. "Gift from my dad when I told him I was moving to Georgia. He gave me lessons before I left and made me promise to go to the shooting range every chance I got. I guess having an overprotective father kind of comes in handy during the Apocalypse, doesn't it?" She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.

"At least ya' won't be too useless." Daryl grunted sourly.

"I can only assume that you're not too happy about me coming with you guys." Her eyes were slightly narrowed, but her smile was still plastered over her face.

"Ya' know what they say 'bout assumin'."

"Makes an ass of you and me. I knew I was an ass; I had no idea you were, though. You learn something new every day; how 'bout that?" She grinned over at Rick. Daryl glared down at her, but didn't say a word. So Murphy simply turned and trotted off to say goodbye to everyone.

"Well, would you look at that..." Glenn mused with a large, toothy smile, watching as the petite woman practically danced away from them and to a small group of masculine Mexican men. He had no doubt that she had them wrapped around her finger. "Finally found someone that could knock heads with Daryl Dixon and not get an arrow in the eye."

"Shut up." Daryl growled, receiving a chuckle from the two men standing with him.

* * *

Almost an hour later, the group of men (now with the new female addition) made their way to where they'd parked their vehicle on the outskirts of town. T-Dog had taken it upon himself to carry the bag of medical supplies, which Murphy was very thankful for.

"Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat." Glenn remarking smartly to the significantly more complete sheriff walking beside him, tall and proud now with his hat placed atop his head.

"Don't tell anybody." Rick grinned in return.

"It does complete the outfit rather well." Murphy smirked, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her tattered jeans.

"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl suddenly pointed out, gesturing behind him towards the retirement that was long behind them. The only woman of the group raised an eyebrow at the rough redneck; he seemed especially pissed off now that they were on their way back to this quarry of theirs. Glenn had briefly filled her in on the fact that they had originally come into the city to retrieve Daryl's older brother, whom had been left behind by accident. She could understand the anger a bit more, all things considered.

"Not nearly half." Rick rolled his eyes at the redneck's overreacting attitude.

"For what?" Daryl couldn't help but to continue on with his snappish voice and narrowed eyes. "Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long ya' think they got?"

"How long do any of us?" The sheriff replied simply and Daryl looked like he was gonna continue arguing, so Murphy grunted and spoke up.

"Dixon, you really wanna walk all the way back and demand the guns and ammo back from a group of old people that gave you a doctor and an ass load of medical supplies in return?" She raised her eyebrow condescendingly. "Kind of a dick move, if you ask me."

"Works out great 'cause I didn't ask ya'!" Daryl snapped right on back.

"Didn't need to, dill hole." Murphy rolled her eyes, turning her attention away from the suddenly angry redneck to the empty road ahead of them.

"Oh, my God..." Glenn suddenly proclaimed.

"What?" Murphy asked worriedly, her hand immediately going to the handle of her gun in preparation for a fight of some kind.

"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl looked around frantically, causing the brunette to snap her attention to him with wide, confused brown eyes.

"Please tell me you did _not_ just ask that God forsaken question!"

"We left it right there! Who would take it?" Glenn scanned the surrounding area to make sure that they hadn't just left it in an area further ahead and just happened to forget where exactly they'd left it in the few hours they'd been in the city. Hell, finding a severed hand rather than a heavily dehydrated Merle, searching through a whole building for the missing redneck, going through multiple Walkers to get the bag of guns, being kidnapped and ransomed, and then saved was a long day's work; he's surprised that he could even remember what all had even happened that day, let alone where they'd left the damn vehicle.

"Merle." Rick said, recognition entering his eyes upon thinking of the missing Dixon. Who else could it have been?

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl mused thoughtfully. Murphy frowned at this in contemplation. What little she knew about the older Dixon was that he'd been left behind on the last run into the city and this group of men had returned in order to find him and the bag of guns now hanging from Rick's back. It was understandable why he would've wanted to get revenge against the group that had left him behind and forced him to saw his own hand off in order to escape alive. She knew, however, that the man was probably crazy from heatstroke and dehydration by this point.

So with a determined step in her stride now, Murphy continued to walk forward.

"Where the hell ya' goin'?" Daryl called after her once he'd noticed her walking ahead of where the men had stopped. She turned to look at them, her fingers tugging innocently on the straps of her backpack as she walked backwards.

"I am walking to camp since there appears to be no vehicles in the immediate area. Therefore, I suggest we best start walking." She smiled brightly and turned forward once more, her messy curls swinging behind her and around her shoulders with the bounce in her step.

Rick, Glenn, T-Dog, and Daryl stared after the seemingly cheerful woman for a moment; she was seriously saying they walk all the way back to camp in this mind numbing Georgia heat? She must be crazy.

But, with a sigh and a slouch in his own form, T-Dog started after her; his mother had raised him to not question a woman when she put her mind to something. It didn't take long for the others to join them along the way. The men had long since learned that a couple mile walk wouldn't take them long if they put their minds to it. The sun was still high in the sky, so they knew they had the time to get there before night fall if they didn't run into any trouble and stayed on track.

* * *

By the time night fell, however, they weren't nearly as close as they thought they'd be. Hell, they thought they'd be at the camp before the moon rose in the sky. They were all starving by the time they turned onto the long, steep road that would lead them up to the quarry. Murphy had packed them each water bottles, but she didn't think it would take them this long for them to get back, so she hadn't brought any food along with them. And they were suffering from it now.

"I fin' Merle again, Imma kill the sumabitch." Daryl grumbled under his breath, wiping absently at his neck with his red rag.

"Get in fuckin' line." Murphy grunted from around the mouth of her water bottle. The sun had long since gone down, but it barely took the heat out of the atmosphere. It was one of the less desirable parts of Georgia and something they all wished didn't have to happen during the end of the world. To make it worse, Murphy wasn't quite as used to the heat as the men were; she'd been cooped up in the retirement home for the majority of the time and barely went outside unless it was to the pharmacy with the protection of Felipe, Miguel, and Jorge. Guillermo hadn't trusted her word too often about her ability to handle herself and had remained firm with her having her own little circle of bodyguards whenever she went outside the retirement walls. She'd been too valuable for them to lose at the time. "I don't even know the mother fucker and I'm pissed at him."

"Within good reason." Glenn remarked stiffly, accepting the water bottle she handed over to him and taking a hardy swig. It made Murphy feel sorry for anybody that was a germophobic in this world. You could go days without a shower out here and it was easier to share things like water and food like this.

"Ain't doin' no good complainin'." Rick reminded them from ahead, shaking his head when he was offered the water next. Murphy frowned at that and continued to hold it out to him. With a sigh a slight smile, he took the bottle and took a small sip. That seemed to satisfy the ex-surgeon-in-training enough for her to pocket the bottle once more into her bag.

"Yes, but it's something we can all agree on at the moment." Murphy said smartly, shoving her hands into her back pockets tiredly. She knew that once she got to this quarry of theirs, the first thing she'd probably do would be to get some dinner, about a gallon of more water, and only then would she formally introduce herself to the people there. Yeah, it was rude as hell, but did she really seem like the kind of person to care much? "And it's too fucking quiet for me."

"Quiet's good." T-Dog stated easily, looking around them carefully at the trees for any sign of movement. "Means we can hear any Walkers before we see them."

"Walkers?" She raised an eyebrow at the term, not having heard it before.

"Dumb dead bastards?" Daryl said sarcastically and she nodded in understanding.

"Hmm... We called them Rarezas." At the weird looks she'd received from the men walking with her, she smirked and decided to let them in on why they called them that. "It's Spanish for 'oddities'. The guys came up with it; their word, not mine. I like Walkers a hell of a lot more, though."

"You know Spanish?" T-Dog asked in quiet interest. If she could speak fluently, it'd be just another surprise to add to her personality.

"Took six years of it when I was in school, but...I fuckin' sucked. I cheated on most tests." Murphy smirked absently, thinking back to all the times she'd sat next to her Mexican friend Yasmine and cheated off her back in her last year of Spanish class in high school. In New Mexico, you couldn't graduate without passing Spanish II, so she'd been forced to take the God forsaken course and had just been lucky enough that the majority of her friends were Hispanic. "Don't know what it is about languages, but they don't click quite as well as the human anatomy and biology did."

Before any of the men could say anything more on the matter, a gunfire sounded, followed by even more along with screams of agony and shock. The five of them took no time in picking up their pace, knowing that the noise could only be coming from one place: the quarry. And there were way too many gunshots for just Merle Dixon to be the cause of it all.

Once they'd reached the campsite, it was complete chaos and they quickly took action against the Walkers going for the campers. While Murphy hadn't quite fought as many Walkers as they had, she knew enough to aim for the head. At this point, being quiet wasn't an option and she vaguely hoped that the screams, yelling, and gunfire wouldn't draw anymore Walkers or bad survivors around.

After everything was said and done, Murphy looked around wildly and took in all the death, both undead (now dead) and the loss of more than half of what seemed to be the campsite. There was only a few handfuls of people left and the devastation in the air was obvious. She didn't know any of these people, and yet she felt sorrow for them. They had most likely been good people that hadn't deserved this, but she knew that death was inevitable at this point. It was only a matter of time before their time ran out. And the clock was ticking for each of them. Some of them would live longer...and some wouldn't.

* * *

**Author's Note (Pt. 2): Well? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Tell me anything that could help me with developing Murphy Singer more. Do you like her? Is she interesting? Can she be the crazy woman we need in order to break through Daryl freakin' Dixon's hard shell he insists on keeping around himself? Am I portraying their accents well enough? Constructive criticism is encouraged!**


	2. Chapter 2 Time

**Disclaimer: I, in no way whatsoever, own The Walking Dead. Tis sad indeed...**

* * *

Chapter 2 "Time"

The next day was filled with silence with only few words being exchanged. Murphy had briefly been introduced to the group and had been in the process of checking over all who had been injured the night before. As far as they all could tell, no one still living had been bitten or scratched by the Walkers. The men and the very few women that were left were divided up on what they were doing. Some were discussing on what to do with the young blonde college student Murphy had been told was called Amy (whom had been bitten the night before and died in the arms of her older sister Andrea) while others were piling the bodies of Walkers and dead campers together to dispose of. Because she didn't know these people too well, Murphy stayed out of the conversations and minded her own business for now. She was sure there would come a time when her opinion was asked, but until that moment, she'd stick to remaining the silent doctor for these grieving people.

"'Ey, Singer!" Daryl called to where she was checking over a scratched knee on a little girl named Sophia with her mother Carol not far from them. When she looked over at him, she could clearly see the scowl on his face from where he stood a few yards away with his pickax. "When you're done playing doctor, why not pick up a damn ax and help us out." It wasn't a question and it annoyed the young woman immensely.

"Keep fucking talk to me like that and I'm gonna put an ax through your head." Was her simple reply as she turned back to Sophia, rubbing some peroxide on her wound absently. She then realized she'd just cursed in front of a little girl probably no older than twelve by the looks of it. With her mother not five feet away from her. "Sorry." She mumbled quietly to Carol, who only smiled in slight, but still sad, amusement.

"No harm done. She's heard worse." That only caused Murphy to frown even more at the concept but she knew it was not the time, nor place to be questioning her. She quickly finished with Sophia, certainly not her last patient, and stood to go help the temperamental redneck before he blew a fuse again. She'd have to check out the few other people left later. So she went to the table that held the various impaling weapons and decided on a long, sharp pole rather than the dull ax and went to work.

She did her best to ignore the loud arguments that seemed to go on all around from various people. Tension was running high and the majority of it was coming from Andrea, Shane, Daryl, and a distraught Glenn. It was understandable really.

"A Walker bit Jim!" That didn't escape her notice, however, and her attention snapped to Jaqui from where she stood with the before mentioned man. He wasn't on the short checked off list that had come to see her quite yet and now she knew why. The men quickly approached at the proclamation, but Jim was certainly skittish at this point, knowing what his fate would be if they got their hands on him.

"I'm okay." He did his best to convince, but no one was buying into it.

"Show it to us." Daryl demanded, eyeing him carefully. An argument broke out once Jim picked up a shovel, but T-Dog soon grabbed him from behind and Daryl managed to lift the man's shirt and see the infamous bite. Murphy walked to the front of the small group and clenched her hand around her pike-like weapon in apprehension at the sight of the large, bloody bite on Jim's left ribs. Even from the distance between them, she could see the puss beginning to come from the fatal wound that meant death for any who was unlucky enough to receive it.

"What do we do?" Shane asked Rick quietly and the latter glanced briefly at their only semi-doctor in the group.

"Murphy, would you mind lookin' him over for us?" Rick questioned her quietly and she nodded slowly in agreement.

"Sure." She didn't necessarily know what good it would do, but she wasn't about to let a man that was obviously suffering and in anxiousness about his future fate go through it alone. She didn't know the man, but she'd had to treat too many people that died of being bitten by a Walker in the past month. It was hard for any person, but to Murphy, whom had been trained to save lives rather than take them away? It hurt her, regardless of how well she knew the person.

* * *

Once Murphy had wrapped Jim's wound and given him some low-level Advil Dale had found in his RV, she returned to where the others stood to report what she knew.

"He doesn't have long." Were the first words out of her mouth. She said it bluntly with her arms crossed over her chest tightly and a frown on her face. She'd set her pike on the ground when she'd approached and now was being listened to intently by her fellow campers. "The bite's not as bad as some I've seen before, but it's still a Walker bite. Not many people survive to see the next day after being bit, no matter how much fucking medical attention they get."

"Are ya' sure?" Rick asked her quietly and received a simple nod in return as Murphy looked down and scuffed her booted foot in the ground absently. She knew her words condemned the man to death, either by contamination or from human interference, but she had to be truthful with these people. There was nothing they could do but to make Jim comfortable until he turned or to kill him now. She'd let them decide on that matter. He was their friend and had lived with him longer than she had; they had more right to the decision. "What should we do?" The officer turned to look around at the people, hoping for some help with deciding a man's fate.

"I say we put a pickax in his head." Daryl replied immediately, not afraid to show his opinion on anything in his apparent anger he still felt at the loss of his brother, not to mention the death that surrounded them. "And the dead girl's and be done with it."

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asked him in a condescending tone of voice.

"Yeah, and I'd thank ya' while ya' did it."

At that point in the argument, Murphy's mind drifted off and attempted to ignore the argument going on around her. She'd go with whatever they decided because either way she knew that Jim would die. She hated to say it, but Daryl had a point. It was only a matter of time before Jim's heart gave out and he turned; just like it was only a matter of time before Amy turned. In Murphy's opinion, the best thing to do would be to ask what Jim wanted. Amy was long gone, but Jim was still alive. He didn't want them to know he'd been bitten and to Murphy that meant that he wouldn't mind turning. He didn't want to die, sure, but he was already dying. He'd have a better standing chance if he were a Walker and he knew it. Suicide by Walker bite. Poetic...in an Edgar Allen Poe sort of way.

Murphy was knocked out of her thoughts when Daryl suddenly yelled and ran at Jim with his pickax raised. For a moment, Murphy was shocked into stillness, but she quickly bounced back just as Rick pointed his Python at the back of the redneck's head and Shane stood between him and a terrified Jim. She reached down and picked up her pike, prepared for anything that may happen at this point.

"We don't kill the living." Rick stated firmly and Daryl was still for a moment before he lowered his weapon and slowly turned to face him, unflinching at the sight of the weapon pointed straight at his face.

"That's funny comin' from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down. Go on." Shane ordered firmly, but calmly. Years from being a cop really did come in handy and even if Murphy didn't know it for sure, she could tell that in their past life that Shane and Rick had been partners on the force. They worked together like a single unit and seemed to know what each other were saying with a simple glance at one another. That kind of relationship doesn't just go away when the world goes to shit.

Daryl wordlessly threw his pickax down with an angry grunt before he stormed off and Murphy quickly came forward as Rick approached Jim, knowing that her assistance would soon be asked of again.

"Come with us." Rick demanded as he pulled the sick, slightly shaky man to his feet.

"Where are you taking me?" Jim asked in confusion.

"Somewhere a temperamental redneck can't get at you without someone noticing." Murphy replied bluntly, helping Rick to move the man into the RV and to the back where the bed was. Once they'd settled him onto the mattress, Rick ushered Murphy to the hallway.

"Keep an eye out here, please. We can't afford Daryl goin' off again." He told her quietly and she nodded.

"Yeah, I kinda figured you'd want me to do that. It's alright with me. I feel sincerely bad about saying this, but helping out there was getting kind of awkward. I wish you guys the best of luck with Amy, though." She told him gently and he nodded.

"You don't wanna come to the funeral?"

"I wouldn't feel right going." It was honest and Rick could understand it. He'd only known these people for a day, but he still knew them. Murphy had barely been introduced to the few survivors left this morning and she probably wouldn't feel right going to their funeral either. So he felt okay with leaving her to look and care for Jim while the others took care of what they needed to.

After he left, Murphy turned and leaned against the door frame, watching Jim where he laid. He looked up at her from his clasped hands. He watched her silently for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak.

"I knew something bad was going to happen." He told her quietly and received a curious head tilt and a frown before she walked forward and sat on the side of his bed, far enough away to keep comfortable distance between the two strangers. "I can't help feeling that I could've stopped it."

"Jim, I may not know you very well, but you couldn't possibly have prevented this." Murphy was quiet and calm with her words. Something she'd always known about becoming a doctor was to stay calm in any situation in order to do what she needed to do. This was easily appliable. "It was a freak accident and could've happened to anybody, anywhere. It's nobodies fault but the dumb dead bastards that did this." She couldn't help but to try to put a smidgen of humor into her words and was awarded from her efforts with a small smile and an exhale that could be considered a silent laugh from the sick man. Murphy carefully reached out and placed the back of her hand to his forehead, frowning at the heat radiating off of him. "The fever's setting in. I'll get you some water, but I suggest you take your shirt off and open the window a little to get cooler." After receiving a small nod from Jim, Murphy turned and walked out to the main part of the RV. Last night, Dale had offered her his floor as a place to sleep (what little she got, anyways) and she'd left her bag and water bottles there. She took one out and then grabbed a trash can that she knew would come in handy as the illness got worse. She brought the items to Jim and made sure he was as comfortable as he could be at this point and left him alone to sit at the table until she was needed again.

She honestly hated feeling so useless at this point. Rick had brought her to the quarry because he thought she'd be good to have around in case of an emergency of the medical kind and yet here she was. Unable to help a dying man in need. The best she could do was to wrap his wound, give him water and a bucket to practically deliver his organs into at a later time, and hand him some Advil because that was all they had pain killer wise. Everyone was terrified at the concept of having a man that could turn at any minute and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The world was coming to a standstill all around them and there was nothing the could do to prevent it. This... This was literally hell on Earth.

* * *

Carol soon joined Murphy at Jim's bedside with a wash cloth that she promptly moistened with the water bottle. They both sat silently with him as the older woman wiped the sweat from the man's face in an attempt to cool him down. Murphy had heard the gunfire earlier and one look at Carol told her that it hadn't been in defense. Amy had finally been...put down (as cruel as it sounds) and the funeral was long since over. Murphy would continue to look after Jim, however, until it was decided what they would do.

When they heard a knock, they turned to see Rick and Lori had entered the RV and Murphy sighed slightly, shaking her head while Carol went back to tending to Jim.

"It's getting worse." Murphy informed their leader and unofficial first lady. "His fever's going up quickly." That wasn't all. A while before Carol had entered, Jim's hallucinations had started. The man didn't have long for this world, whether they got to the CDC in time or not. Carol had told her that Rick was considering going there in order to help Jim, but Shane wanted to go to Fort Benning. The two men seemed to argue even more today than they had last night. Nothing could end well there and even Murphy could see that.

"You need anything?" Lori pointed this question at Jim, whom stared back dazedly.

"Uh...oh, water. Could use more water." He responded after noticing that the bottle that Murphy had given him was almost empty.

"I'll get some."

"Okay."

"Carol, you help me?" Lori asked with a kind smile and helped the still shaky woman out of the RV. Rick glanced up at Murphy and she nodded in understanding, following after the two women, but not leaving the vehicle. Rather, she took a seat on the steps of the RV and waited until Rick was done talking with Jim. Her job was to look over the man and she would keep to that until she was told otherwise. She needed to show the other campers that she knew when to follow orders and when to disagree with a decision made.

* * *

Later, Rick came and got her from the RV so she could be apart of the decision making on where they went from here and after she made sure Jim could handle himself for a few minutes, she followed him out to the fire, where everyone else had already gathered. Looking around, Murphy finally got the chance to make a head count of the survivors. There were sixteen survivors if she counted herself into the equation. Seventeen if she counted Jim.

"I've, uh, I've been thinking about Rick's plan." Shane began. Murphy could see that because he had been leading this group far longer than Rick had been there, the others would most likely listen to Shane better. But it was obvious to her that Rick was more a leader to this group than Shane was now. It was only a matter of time before it became clear to everyone else. "Look, there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts... I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So. Those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?"

There were no words of disagreements, so everyone silently began preparing themselves for bed. The sun had begun to set already and they needed to be well rested for whatever they came across the next day. It still hadn't become clear where they'd be going, but Murphy's non-existent money was betting on the CDC at this point.

* * *

"Alright, everybody, listen up." Shane's broke through the little chatter that was going on the next morning. They were ready to get on their way. Murphy had left Jim to sleep in while she went to see what they were doing, so she now stood with her arms crossed over her chest with Dale, Glenn, and Jaqui, who would all be riding in the RV as well. "Those of you with CB's, we're gonna be on channel 40, but let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now, you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

"We're, uh, we're not going." Morales spoke up for his family, receiving questioning silence in return. Everyone just assumed that all campers would be going together and it was a surprise to hear that the Hispanic family would not be joining them.

"We have family in Birmingham." His wife added quietly, hoping to explain their decision better. "We want to be with our people."

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane declared, making sure that they knew that clearly. They left, they'd be leaving alone.

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family." Morales replied and it was settled. Morales and his family would be leaving for Birmingham with a handgun and a half full box of ammo. As everyone said their goodbyes and Sophia was handed a doll to be remembered by, they loaded up in preparation to leave. Everything had long since been packed up and all they needed to do now was have everyone load into their respective vehicles.

* * *

It wasn't long before they had to stop, though. The RV began spluttering with smoke and Jim was in dire pain. Murphy quickly told Jaqui to get Rick when they stopped and he was still groaning in pain. Once the man stepped into the RV, Murphy made to walk around him to get out of the stuffy RV for a few minutes while they talked, but Rick quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.

"How's he doin'?"

With a sigh, Murphy shook her head and took a glance at the man in question before she looked up at the officer standing with her. "He doesn't have long before his heart gives out. He's lucky to have survived for this long. Rick, this is fucking torture for him. It doesn't help that the ride is so bumpy. I know we don't kill the living but-"

"No." He told her firmly with a shake of his head and she stared up at him quietly with angry brown eyes. He knew where she was going and he couldn't do it. Even if it were out of mercy. He walked past her without another word. Murphy grunted in frustration and left the RV, welcoming the shade beside it rather than the stuffy, sick scented air inside. Death was in the air and Jim's clock was running out of time quickly.

It was soon decided that they would leave Jim where they'd stopped because that was what he wanted. They believed him to be lucid, so they took his dying wish to heart and left him to turn on his own. Nobody liked it, but they knew it was what he wanted. So...everyone said their goodbyes to the dying man. When it came to Murphy's turn, she frowned sadly as she knelt down beside him and held out her hand to him. He looked at her in confusion and frowned when she opened her hand to reveal two white pills that he recognize to be more Advil.

"You shouldn't waste that on me." He told her hoarsely and she smiled sadly, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't be a very good doctor if I left a man I can't help from dying to suffer from the pain. If I can't save your life...this is the least I can do." Her words touched Jim, even in his half delirious mind state and he agreed to take the pills that they both knew wouldn't take effect in time. Murphy stepped back after she made sure he got the pills down and let the others say their final goodbyes to him, holding onto the strap of her backpack tightly from where she stood next to Daryl. Once the redneck beside her began to walk away, she followed after him quickly and called out to him. "Hey, um...would you mind if I caught a ride with you?" She asked quietly, taking clear notice of the surprised raised eyebrow she got in return.

"Why? Thought you were ridin' in the RV."

"Yeah, well, it's a bit crowded in there and I don't know if I can take the stuffiness for much longer, so please don't make a big fucking deal out of nothing." Murphy sighed and he scowled at her quietly. "Please, Daryl. You won't even notice I'm there." It was true. She took up very little space if she wasn't sleeping. Her short height and skinny figure came in handy in that particular situation.

Daryl rolled his eyes with a scoff and continued on to the driver side door of his old truck. Murphy remained where she stood, watching after him in disappointment. His silence was taken as a flat out no to her, so she turned with a grunt in order to attempt to find another ride. She'd only asked Daryl because she knew he had the space since no one else had taken the chance to ride with the redneck. It was a long shot, she knew, but she'd hoped that maybe the man wouldn't be a damn asshole about everything. She had Shane as another choice, but she didn't particularly like the man all too much. He gave off an unfriendly vibe that she didn't like to be around for long. A car ride to the CDC would be too long in her opinion.

"Where ya' goin'?" He called after her and she paused, turning to look at him curiously.

"I was under the impression that scoff and eye roll meant to fuck off."

"Get your ass in the car before I change my mind." With that, the redneck climbed into the cab of the truck. Murphy stood there with a surprised expression on her face, but when he started up the truck and put the vehicle into drive, she quickly went around and hopped into the passenger seat. She knew that he wouldn't hesitate with leaving her behind if she didn't hurry up, so she wasted no time in settling herself in on the other side of the cab. And so the caravan continued in silence. Murphy spent the time with cleaning the pike she'd basically claimed as her hand held weapon from the Walker brain matter. She hadn't gotten the chance to do so when they were at camp and now seemed as good a time as any since it was something quiet for her to do. She had no doubt that if Daryl wanted to talk to her, he'd be the one to initiate it. If she did it, she had the chance of losing her ride.

"Why'd ya' give 'im the pills?" He finally asked after what felt like an hour of silence, but Murphy knew it couldn't have been more than twenty minutes, fifteen at the least. She sighed upon hearing the question, but she knew that he'd be the one the least happy about her decision and would feel no shame in telling her so.

"Daryl, what was my profession before the Apocalypse?" She asked him flatly, never taking her eyes off the sharp edge of her pike. She filed away absently that it needed to be sharpened soon. When he remained silent, she continued on. "I was a surgeon-in-training. Which meant I helped people in pain to get better. If that means giving away a few pills to a dying man, then so be it. It was all I could do."

"Was stupid, that's what it was." He grunted in return, causing her to roll her eyes at him. "Could'a used 'em on someone that needed 'em."

"It was Advil, damn it. It couldn't do much in ways of pain killers. It was mostly to bring down his fever and the headaches." Murphy admitted, finally turning to look at him blankly. "The man was dying, for God's sake, Daryl. Leave me the fuck alone about it." She snapped and turned to look out her window, setting her pike in the floorboard with her bag. "It was my decision and it's my fucking job. You hear me telling you how to hunt and skin your goddamn animals?" The question was rhetorical, so it didn't surprise her to receive no answer in return. "That's what I thought. So keep your damn opinions regarding medical shit to yourself." And they were silent for the rest of the drive, each pondering over different things.

Murphy was curious as to what would happen once they'd reach the CDC. There was no guarantee that someone would even be there, let alone let them in. This trip was a gamble, but hopefully it was worth it. She just hoped that they'd be able to find food, shelter, and water soon. They hadn't eaten dinner last night, breakfast this morning, and lunch had come and gone. Everyone was starting to feel the fatigue from not eating for so long and Murphy's stomach was growling loudly at the very thought of food. What she wouldn't give for a Whopper from a Burger King right about now.

Daryl's thoughts, however, weren't on food, but on the woman beside him. He had been confused and more than a little shocked when she'd asked him for a ride when he knew that the prick, Shane had more than enough room in his Jeep for the little slip of a girl. But she chose to ride with him instead. The girl was confusing to him and he hoped to be able to figure her out eventually, but for now she was like a book waiting to be thoroughly read through. He just had to have the patience in order to do so. But when she went off on him... Damn, he didn't know how to react to that. Most women were afraid to talk to him, let alone basically tell him to fuck off and mind his own business. It was new and he didn't like it very much. It would take some time getting used to it, time they all hopefully still had.

* * *

When they got to the CDC, the road was blocked off, so they had to exit their vehicles. Daryl and Murphy where the furthest back, but it didn't take them long to catch up with the others. Murphy had decided to leave her pike behind, so her Colt was drawn and held firmly at her side, her finger ready to pull the trigger if she had to. She hoped she didn't because the noise would just cause more Walkers to come, but hopefully Daryl's more silent weapon could take care of that.

Murphy's mouth fell open in surprise at the sight before her. The CDC had been completely overrun by Walkers and there didn't seem to be any survivors. There were dead soldiers and civilians alike laying on the ground and it felt like walking into a graveyard with all the graves uncovered. Nonetheless, they proceeded on with caution, sticking close together. The air was thick with the smell of death and many cough at the very scent. Murphy took the chance to pull up the bandanna that she'd wrapped around her neck earlier in hopes of relieving her neck from flowing sweat. It now served to partially block the putrid stench of dead bodies to an extent. It wasn't completely gone and she still smelt it, but it was better than the full attack she'd been getting before. Many others took the same route she had and held either their shirt collars or a rag to their noses.

Shane ushered them on quickly and warned them to stay as quiet as possible, but Murphy stuck behind with Daryl. She knew that he could handle watching their backs alone, but it was always best to have more eyes than two watching out behind them. Once they'd reached the doors, they were dismayed to see heavy metal shutters drawn over them and even more disappointed when the pulls Shane gave them did no good.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog proclaimed and Murphy frowned as she turned towards the doors, looking for any weak point or hidden door they could possibly use.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asked sternly.

"Walkers!" Daryl suddenly warned and they all turned quickly to see that an undead man in army fatigues was stumbling towards them. The redneck was quick to shove the shotgun in his hand into Murphy's own and shoot the Walker with his crossbow before anyone had the chance to draw their gun. "You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl yelled as he quickly approached Rick angrily.

"He made a call." Dale quickly defended him.

"It was the wrong damn call!"

"Daryl!" Murphy growled and quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him back before he could do anything that could be regrettable. He wouldn't regret it, but she'd be damned if she let him do anything stupid. He jerked his arm away from her hold and glared down at her. "Shut the fuck up! You're doing nothing but drawing more fucking Walkers towards us."

"Rick, this is a dead end." Shane swore at his fellow cop as he approached him quickly. Murphy's ears were assaulted by even more arguing and the sound of two crying children, as well as a questioning Carol and huffing Daryl. She bit her lip angrily at all the yelling and turned her eyes to watch their surroundings for anymore Walkers heading their way since she seemed to be the only one thinking with a clear head. Everyone's yelling would surely draw even more of the in and if they didn't quit soon, they'd all be dead before you could even say "Center of Disease Control". As if it could get any worse, Rick started yelling at the door, seemingly talking to nobody while the others were already taking steps away form the doors and back towards the cars. Shane finally chose to forcefully pull the man away and they were finally back on track to get to the vehicles.

Before anyone could move another inch, however, the shutters in front of the door Rick had been yelling at shot up and this...bright white light shone out like the goddamn doors to heaven at them. They all turned in surprise and slowly lowered their weapons at the sight before them. It was like a miracle to them. And it was sincerely needed at this point.

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**Author's Note: Hey, guys! So this is the second chapter of many for this fic and I hope you guys like it as much, if not even more than the last one. I didn't get too much feedback from the last chapter, so I hope I get some for this one. So what'd you guys think about how Murphy and Daryl converse with each other? It's different from most other fics I've read and I hope you guys think so as well. Tell me what you guys think so far please in a review! Creative criticism is encouraged, people!**


	3. Chapter 3 Rum and Deer

**Author's Note: Hello, my lovely readers! This chapter is a pretty long one (the longest one yet, actually), and I've taken a few risks in this chapter. Hopefully you'll appreciate the effort :3 Also, I would like to thank my first (and only, sadly enough -) reviewer: Sparky94! Thanks for the praise on Murphy and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the first one!**

**HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND, EVERYBODY!**

**Disclaimer: The honor of owning this magnificent TV show and comic is not mine! That goes to Robert Kirkman...the lucky bastard...**

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Chapter 3 "Rum and Deer"

The group wasted no time in taking the few steps it would take to get into the CDC, but they were cautious. They had no idea what was in there and it was entirely possible that it wasn't safe. But they were desperate. They had no food, no water, and barely any gas left. This was their only chance to live through the night.

"Daryl, cover the back." Shane ordered as they slowly walked further into the CDC. It seemed like they were truly alone in the building until they heard a gun cocking off to the side. Those that had guns raised them and turned to see that a rather timid looking man was pointing his own gun at them carefully. Murphy furrowed her brows at him curiously; here they were, covered head to toe in dirt, sweat, and (in some cases) blood. This man, however, looked perfectly healthy, if a little pale and tired looking. Not to mention clean.

"Anybody infected?!" He called out to them cautiously, glancing around at the oddball group of people.

"One of our group was... He didn't make it." Rick's voice was shaky and out of breath from all the yelling he'd done only minutes before.

"Why are you here; what do you want?" The questions were said so quickly, they molded into a single curiosity as the man cautiously took a step forward out of the shadows so they could see him better and he could see them better.

"A chance." Rick was hopeful that it would be given to them.

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know."

It was silent as the man considered what should be done. He took a careful look around at the people once more, his eyes softening on the sight of the two children and the exhausted looking women of the group. Who knew how long they'd been out there, fighting for their lives? Did he have the heart to push them right back out the door and make them face their inevitable fate outside these walls? Finally, he made his decision.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Murphy found it reasonable, so when Rick briefly glanced at her with a questioning eye on the matter, she nodded her agreement. "We can do that."

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now." The man told them quickly, lowering his gun to his side. "Once this door closes, it stays closed." Glenn, Daryl, Rick, and Shane quickly made to leave the building and Murphy stepped up to follow but the redneck pushed her back inside.

"I'll get your shit." He told her bluntly and left before she could argue. She stood there, staring with narrowed eyes before she scoffed and went back into the building. She knew that now was not the time to argue with the redneck. There'd be plenty of time to do that once they were settled in. It didn't take the men long to get back, anyway, and when they closed the doors behind them, the man slid a keycard into a control box.

"Vi, seal the man entrance. Kill the power up here."

Daryl approached Murphy with her bag in hand and gave it to her silently. She sighed and nodded at him. "Thanks, I guess. Though I could've gotten the damn thing on my own." She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Woman, just say thank ya' and move on." He grumbled, rolling his eyes as he walked away from her. She could only smirk after him, knowing that he took her ribbing the wrong way. It amused her either way and didn't surprise her in the least.

Soon enough, they were all crammed into the elevator that Dr. Edwin Jenner (as he'd introduced himself as) had called up for them. Murphy was stuck between a gun toting redneck and an exhausted Korean and she couldn't help but feel slightly claustrophic with their close proximities.

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?" Daryl questioned, breaking the silence with his curiosity. He knew why Murphy carried around her gun (she had an awfully good reason, too), but this doctor didn't seem to have even left the building since the Apocalypse started. What reason did he have to carry the gun currently in his arms?

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarlized myself." The sentences flowed one right after the other and Murphy could tell that this man was used to talking fast. In his line of work, it was partially needed. If he needed his point to be made within the CDC, it needed to be said quickly and clearly. "But you look harmless enough. Except you." Jenner smiled faintly down at Carl, whom was standing close to him with Sophia. "I'll have to keep an eye on you." That caused the boy to crack a smile, which they were grateful for. It had seemed like a life time since the last time either Sophia or Carl smiled at anything.

The elevator soon pulled to a stop and they proceeded to follow after the good doctor down the hall. Carol chose that moment to speak up.

"Are we underground?"

"You claustrophobic?" Jenner questioned instead of answering, but it basically gave her the answer she needed.

"A little."

"Try not to think about it. Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." He called out once they reached a large, circular room with several computer desks set up in the area. The lights turned on at his command and Murphy wondered briefly where this "Vi" person he kept talking to was. Were they just anti-social or in a different part of the building or what? "Welcome to Zone 5." Jenner told his guests absently as he walked down towards the computers and they slowly followed after him.

"Where is everybody?" Rick voiced the question that was on everybody's mind at this point. The place seemed deserted and the only person they'd met so far was an unimforative doctor. "The other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it." Jenner told them simply. "It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked before Murphy could and the latter looked over from her silent look around the room.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome." Jenner ordered slowly and they all looked up in surprise at the mechanical female voice that came from the ceiling.

"Hello, guests. Welcome."

"I'm all that's left." Jenner told them in an almost depressed tone, watching as their hopes faded at his admittance. "I'm sorry." He then proceeded to turn and lead them out of the big room and into what appeared to be a confrence room where a few small tables were set up. He left them there momentarily, but soon returned with several vials and needles for drawing blood. Carl and Sophia both whimpered at the sight of the needles and Jenner looked over at them. "Hey, don't worry. It'll only hurt for a second."

"Mommy, I don't want to." Sophia said quickly, turning to look up at Carol while Carl nodded his agreement to his own mother. Neither wanted their blood taken and it was understandable. They were still kids. They shunned away from pain if they could help it.

"Oh, would it be better if Murphy did it?" Carol looked to the woman in question, whom was sitting against the wall tiredly.

"Are you a doctor?" Jenner also turned to look at the wide eyed slip of a woman curiously.

"In-training." Murphy corrected, but stood nonetheless, wiping her hands off on the front of her jeans absently. "But, yeah, I can do it if it makes the kids feel better about it."

"It might get us done faster." Jenner agreed and quickly pointed her to a sink where she could wash her hands and a pair of gloves she could wear. Once she was ready and sitting in a chair at a table, Carol brought Sophia over and sat down with her in her lap to help hold her still. Jenner began taking blood from Shane as Murphy prepped Sophia.

"Alright, hun, I'm going to wrap this around your arm, okay? It's gonna pinch a bit." She warned carefully, knowing it was best to tell the girl everything she was doing beforehand in order to not give her any surprises. Sophia nodded shakily and watched the woman as she wrapped the turniquet around her upper arm. "Now, let's see if we can find a good vein here..." Murphy smiled disarmingly at the girl and ran her fingers over her forearm, gently probing until a decent sized vein poked through. "Disinfectant." She explained, holding up a small wipe with the before mentioned medicine on it before she ran it over the vein she'd found. "Okay, now, I'm going to need you to stay perfectly still, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Nuh uh." Sophia shook her head defiantly, motioning to move her arm away once Murphy picked up the needle and pulled the tab off.

"Sophia, you promised you'd let Ms. Murphy do this if Dr. Jenner couldn't." Carol told her quietly as she rubbed her back soothingly.

"Would it help if I told you a story while I do it?" Murphy asked, having had to deal with this before. She'd worked as a nurse when she was still trying to get her degree, so she knew how to handle children in cases like these. She'd learned that the best way was to distract the child and since they had no telelivision, story telling was her last option.

"I guess so..."

"Alright, well, once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort." She began the well remembered fairy tale she'd known of since she was a child. She had no doubt that the mother and child before her recognized it, as well, as she continued on. Who wouldn't recognize it? "Which could only be broken by true love's first kiss. She was locked away in a castle, guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free her from this dreadful prison, but none prevailed. She waited in the dragon's keep, in the highest room of the tallest tower, for her true love, and true love's first kiss."

"Then she met Shrek and he took her away and they got married and Donkey and Dragon had babies and-"

"All done." Murphy smiled, placing the vial of blood off to the side and worked on wrapping a bandage around the girl's arm.

"Wow, I didn't even feel it." Sophia smiled at the nice woman sitting across from her, getting a grin in return.

"That's the point of the story. See, it wasn't so bad now, was it?" The question was rehtorical as she gently patted Sophia's hand and Carol carefully set her daughter to the ground beside her and held her arm out to her with a smile of her own. Murphy got to work on drawing blood from Carol next.

"Thanks for that. She's never been too good at the doctor's." The older woman was grateful to her for being so patient with her daughter. At first glance, Murphy looked like a sweet enough woman, but Carol knew that she had a mouth like a sailor and could hold her own in an argument against Daryl Dixon. The woman was tough when she needed to be and she didn't take shit from rednecks. But she was a great role model for Sophia and was mindful of her mouth in front of both her and Carl.

"It's perfectly understandable. To tell you the truth, I hate going to the doctor, too." Murphy smiled softly at the woman, but kept her eyes on the amount of blood being pulled from the woman before her into the vial. "They say that the worst patient for the doctor is a doctor."

"I can imagine." Carol smiled and they were quiet until Murphy had her arm wrapped up and motioned for Carl and Lori to step forward. Carl took a seat and his mother rubbed his shoulders comfortingly as he held his arm out to be given the same treatment as the people before him. Rick was now over at Jenner's table, also getting his blood drawn.

"Do I need to tell you a fairytale, too?" The question could seem sarcastic by the way her eyebrows were lifted, but Murphy was completely serious. Boys may act like tough guys, but when it came down to shots and needles, they were just as scared as girls were.

"No..." Carl muttered under his breath, looking away. Murphy could only grin in reply; she'd already wrapped the tourniquet around his arm and was now disinfecting the area around the vein she'd found. Lori was watching her like a hawk and Murphy couldn't say she was a tad bit annoyed; the woman had just seen her do this for Sophia and Carol with nothing going wrong and she still didn't trust her. Murphy didn't doubt that if Lori had it her way, Jenner would be the one to take Carl's blood. Carl wanted Murphy to do it, though, so she'd given in and allowed her son to have his way for once.

"Alright, well, can you stay still for me?" Murphy asked, taking the tab off the new needle. Carl eyed it fearfully and gulped. "It's best if you don't watch me do it, little man." She said softly.

"But I can't help it." He frowned, watching the sharp needle with wide eyes.

With a small smile, Murphy leaned forward and held the needle up between them. "I'll tell you a secret. You want to hear it?" He nodded absently and flickered his eyes up to look at her. "I'm afraid of needles, too." She whispered conspirately and he looked at her curiously.

"You are?"

"Mmhmm. Always have been. And you know how I overlook it?" He shook his head, so she smiled. "I think of what makes me happiest in the world. A place, a person, a favorite food, TV show, or even a favorite animal. It gets my mind off of it and I barely feel it. Maybe it'd work for you, too."

"I dunno..." Carl shook his head with a frown and Murphy hummed thoughtfully.

"Well, why don't you try it? Just close your eyes and think of what makes you happy. You don't have to say what it is, just think it. And breathe deeply, like you're going to sleep." He stared at her disbelievingly before he sighed and did as she told him to. She waited a few moments and watched as his breathing slowed slightly, but not enough to say that he was asleep. He was in his own little world and didn't even notice when she pierced his skin with the needle. She took her time in taking his blood, knowing that he'd notice and feel it if she took it too quickly. But once she was done, she wrapped his arm up and tapped him on the nose to bring him out of his mind. "All done." She grinned at his confused look and he blinked rapidly before he stood and smiled at her shyly before he went to sit with his father, whom had already finished.

Lori sighed and sat down in front of her. She was silent as she looked anywhere but Murphy as the other woman prepped her arm and took her blood. She didn't bother thanking her and Murphy knew that she wouldn't. Lori was too proud a woman to admit that even she wouldn't be able to fully convince her son to put a needle in his arm. She was too controlling for that. So once she was done, she moved away from Murphy without a word.

Murphy sighed at that with a roll of her eyes and placed the vial labled "Lori" off to the side with Carl, Sophia, and Carol's own labeled vials. She threw away the old needle and prepared another one as Daryl took a seat across from her. She raised an eyebrow at him, but wrote his name on the next vial nonetheless. He held his arm out wordlessly and allowed her to wrap the tourniquet around his bicep. "You know, I was under the impression that you didn't like being touched."

"I don't." Daryl grunted, watching her fingers as they gently probed at the inside of his elbow for a vein.

"You also don't seem to like me very much, so why the hell did you voluntarily allow me to take your bodily fluids?" She smirked up at him thoughtfully, but he just stared at her blankly.

"I trust ya' a helluva lot more than I do 'im." His eyes flickered distrustfully over to where Jenner was now taking Andrea's blood. She was asking him why they needed their blood drawn and it was no surprise to the redneck; the blonde questioned everything a man did and seemed to go against everything they told her. She was one of those women that couldn't stand being ordered around by a man and it was understandable, but the girl needed to know when to quit while she's ahead. She, along with Lori were the women that looked down on Daryl, as well. It was safe to say he didn't like either women very much.

"I'm touched, really." Murphy rolled her eyes, pulling the cap off the needle. Daryl's eyes shot to look into her own and she paused momentarily; this was the first time she'd actually taken the time to actually look at Daryl. He was slim, but the sleeveless shirts he seemed to favor showed off the muscles he needed in order to use his crossbow. His sun-blonde (which was sure to turn brown once summer was over) hair was touseled and his bangs hung over his forehead carelessly. Rather than keep a cleanly shaven face like the other men in the group, Daryl sported facial hair on his chin and upper lip. His facial hair drew Murphy's eyes to look at the small mole located just to the left of his mouth; while it would look odd on anyone else, it suited him well. The last thing she looked at was his bright blue eyes. She mentally shook herself and proceeded to slide the needle into Daryl's arm. For his credit, he didn't even flinch.

He was too busy observing her and vaguely felt the pinch from the needle. He had already filed away what the woman looked like to memory. Her figure was slim, she had small breasts and ass, her hair was a dark (almost black) brown and hung to her shoulders in messy waves, and her skin was pale. Her eyes, though, caught his attention this time, even if she wasn't looking at him. They were impossibly wide and a deep, chocolate brown in color. At first glance, he would think she was related to Lori if he didn't know better. They almost had the same jaw structure, but Murphy's cheeks filled them out better and didn't make her look as much like a skeleton. Which was surprising, to say the least; the girl was tiny and it didn't seem like she ate very much. But then again, nobody ate very much anymore. Over all, Murphy Singer was pretty average. She wasn't an impossible beauty, but she wasn't disgustingly ugly, either. She was just...Murphy. There was no other way to word it. Her appearance was almost doe-like. Fragile, skinny (but still strong), and, hell, her freckles across the bridge of her nose even reminded him of the white spots usually found on fawns.

"Done." She told him quietly, not returning those wide brown eyes to look at him as she placed the vial with the others and tossed the used needle. Daryl blinked and looked down at his arm to see it wrapped up now and nodded, standing to allow a waiting Glenn to take his place.

Soon enough, everyone's blood was taken and after Murphy allowed Jenner to do the same for her, he led them to the small cafeteria, where the women quickly went to work on preparing them all a good meal for once with an actual stove. Murphy helped where she could, but while she was good with her hands medically, she was particularly horrible in the kitchen. She was only ever good when it came to baking. So the other women had decided she'd be best at finding the silverware, dishes, and drinks, and setting the table. She was just fine with that since she made the men (whom were just standing around doing nothing) go hunt for alcohol with Jenner's help and she had the kids help her set the table.

After the spaghetti was finished, they were finally served and Dale poured them all red wine while the children were given sodas that Murphy had found in the blissfully still working fridge. Murphy didn't usually like wine unless it was white, but Daryl seemed to be hogging the good stuff from where he leaned against the counter behind her and T-Dog, so she sucked it up and took a healthy gulp of the wine, smiling at the laughter from the group around her. This was the first time since she'd joined them that they seemed truly happy, and with good reason. They'd all been through quite a bit and it was good to see them all having a good time for once.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale tried to persuade Lori into letting Carl try some of the wine, but she wasn't having it, placing her hand over her son's empty glass protectively, but with an amused smile on her features. "And in France."

"Well, when Carl's in Italy or France, he can have some then."

"What's it gonna hurt?" Rick grinned from his seat on Carl's other side. "C'mon. C'mon!" He said and Murphy knew then that with both of her boys looking at her expectantly, Lori would give in. And she did, waving her hand to her son for Dale to pour him some.

"There you are, young lad." Dale grinned and they all watched silently as the boy took a sip of the drink that all of the adults seemed to like. Except for Daryl, of course. He was drinking something that he'd told him was called "SoCo". Murphy smirked, tapping her finger against the rim of her glass in amusement when the look of disgust quickly spread over Carl's face.

"Ew!" They all laughed at that and Lori grinned, pouring what was in her son's glass into her own. "That tastes nasty."

"Yeah, red wine's not that good, kid." Murphy smiled at the boy across from her. She then leaned back in her chair and looked at Daryl upside down to see him smiling in amusement. "Yo, redneck, care to share?" She asked him with a grin that looked like a frown to Daryl because of her current state.

"Can ya' handle it?" He raised an eyebrow at her and she merely smirked, so he chuckled and stepped forward, pouring a bit of the alcohol he'd been drinking into an empty glass that Murphy had been using for water earlier. "Go on." He gestured to the glass and everyone turned to see if the tiny slip of a woman could drink what Daryl was drinking like it was water. She didn't hesitate in raising the glass to her lips and downing it in one gulp.

"Whoa, easy there, tiger." T-Dog smiled in amusement at the smirking female. "I ain't carryin' your drunk ass to bed."

"Don't need to." She told him calmly and everyone was surprised to hear the clear tone in her voice. She didn't sound or look drunk in the slightest and she had already drunk several glasses of wine before she'd taken that swig of Southern Comfort. While the other adults were well on their way to being totally pissed, she seemed as sober as the children did still. "Takes a hell of a lot more than this to get me drunk. I used to drink all the time in high school. My parents let me as long as I stayed home to do it. Now, it takes a lot more to get me as drunk as a skunk." She informed them before she stood and walked around the table and towards the liquor cabinet, leaning down to look into the contents as the chatter continued on behind her. Soon, she returned to the table, now with a bottle of Rum in hand. Call her a bloody pirate if you must, but she loved her Rum.

Murphy took a swig from the bottle and turned to Glenn, who was watching her in interest, holding a now empty wine glass in hand. She smirked and held her hand out to him wordlessly. He smiled and handed it over, watching as she poured him a generous amount of the alcohol before she gave it back to him.

"I can't get the taste out of my mouth." Carl complained suddenly after several sips of soda and they chuckled at the poor kid.

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane grinned at him over his clasped hands, seeming to be the only sober one left at the table other than the children. Even Carol, the usually so put together woman, was letting loose a bit and had already drunk two glasses of wine and was working on her third.

"Not you, Glenn!" Daryl quickly said, causing them to look over and see the Korean was reading the label on the wine bottle while his Rum sat unattended in front of him.

"What?" The Asian asked in confusion, but a small smile spread over his face anyways. It was surprising to see Daryl in such a good mood, but it could only be because for once, they all had completely full stomachs and good liquor in front of them.

"Keep drinkin', little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." The men and Murphy chuckled at that and Glenn took a hardy sip of his Rum, just to prove to them that he wasn't afraid to get drunk. After a few moments of laughter, Rick clinked his knife against his glass and they grew quiet as their leader stood to his feet, picking up his wine glass.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." He said thoughtfully, causing T-Dog to grin and hold up his glass.

"He is more than just our host."

"Hear hear!" The others agreed, but the most surprising of cheers happened to come from Daryl.

"Booyah!" He grinned, holding up his SoCo and it was clear to the others that the youngest Dixon was in the best mood he'd been in days. Murphy couldn't help but to giggle, but she raised her own glass to her fellow doctor.

"You're a true humanitarian, doc." She told him with a smirk and received a chuckle from Carol.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane's voice interrupted the happy laughter and chatter within the room and they grew silent as all eyes turned to the ex-cop. He didn't seem to take notice of their silent warnings to drop it for now and to let them at least have tonight to not think about what was going on topside. "All the, uh, the doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane." Rick stated in a warning, settling back into his seat calmly. "Don't need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move, supposed to find all the answers. Instead we...we found him." He gestured over to where Jenner sat apart from them. "Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things got bad," Jenner started, happy to answer the questions. He knew, however, that the man before him couldn't have chosen a worse time to do so, "a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked and Murphy frowned. She could faintly detect a smug tone in his voice and she just knew that he was happy that Rick was wrong and he was right. The man certainly gave her the creeps, that was for sure.

"No. Many couldn't face walking out the door." Jenner's eyes seemed slightly unfocused as he admitted this. "They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave." Andrea suddenly said, drawing attention to herself, but she had all eyes for the doctor. "Why?"

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

It was quiet for a moment before a slightly drunk Korean stood from his post against the counter, looking over at Shane with a frown. "Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man."

"Makes you feel any better, I saw some tequila in the cabinet." Murphy offered, looking up at him as he passed by her seat. After a moment of thoughtful hesitation, the Asian shrugged and went to the cabinet. Murphy let out a small smile of amusement, taking a sip of her own alcohol of choice. Everyone was quiet for the most part of dinner, the only sounds of asking neighbors to pass the bottle or something like that. Shane really knew how to bring down the mood, but Murphy was sure it would be brought back up before the night was through, especially since the flow of alcohol didn't appear to be stopping any time soon.

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After dinner, Jenner showed them to offices that were comfortable enough for human living with adjoining bathrooms for when the staff stayed over night. The housing's electricity was apparently shut down, so they had to make do in the offices. The only thing that really caught their attention, however, was the mention of hot water before the doctor disappeared down the hall.

"Hot water?" Glenn asked gleefully, looking back at his fellow survivors. Murphy was practically hopping at the very thought; they hadn't had running water at the retirement home, so they had to take Ranger baths in buckets most of the time and she was dying to feel completely clean for the first time in a month.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog was just as happy and the group wasted no time in locating rooms for themselves and settling in. Murphy herself hadn't even bothered getting a change of clothing before she disappeared into the shower in her room happily.

Her skin practically sung under the hot water pelting down her back and over her head. A breathy groan escaped her lips in content before she squealed happily and jumped up and down a little. The shower felt so great! She'd found a fresh razor in the medicine cabinet and she took the opportunity to shave her armpits, as well as her legs. She hadn't necessarily had the chance to shave her legs in the past month and it made her feel more feminine with the smooth legs once more. Remembering Jenner's warning about going easy on the hot water, Murphy quickly scrubbed her hair with shampoo and conditioner before she got out of the shower. She vowed to herself that she'd treat herself to another shower tomorrow as she got out and wrapped herself up in a towel. She heard a knocking on her door and she furrowed her brows curiously, wrapping her arms around her partially naked form protectively as she walked out of the bathroom and towards her door. She pulled it open the slightest, hiding her form with the door as she peered out. To her surprise, it was Daryl.

"Uh...hi?" She raised her eyebrows at him in confusion. Not only was the man standing there with a bottle of SoCo in hand, but she was basically naked on the other side of the door and it was a bit distracting for her to fully focus.

"Ol' man asked me to get your first aid bag." He told her simply, leaning against the door frame as he looked down at her with those blue eyes of his.

"Dale asked _you_ to get it? Why didn't he come get it?" To her knowledge, Dale and Daryl didn't interact too often, and when they did, it was to berate the other. They certainly didn't hate each other, but they didn't exactly get along too well either.

"Busy with Blondie, I dunno. Can I have the bag or wha'?"

"Well, you're going to have to wait a minute because I just got out of the shower and I have no clothes on so..."

"Oh." He stepped back and she quickly closed the door, a small flush spreading up her neck to her ears in embarrassment. The man seemed completely oblivious to her, however, and that made her a tad bit self-conscious. She knew she didn't have quite as much sex appeal as, say, Andrea or Lori, but she wasn't a complete troll either. And she thought that Daryl was attractive. To see that he didn't necessarily register her as anything more than the doctor of the group hurt her self esteem quite a bit. So, with a grunt and an irritated eye roll, Murphy yanked on an old thermal sweater that hung off her right shoulder as well as a pair of old softball shorts she'd used in high school. She pulled a pair of ankle socks onto her feet, feeling a slight chill from the air conditioning coming down on her wet hair. As it slowly dried, it fell in slight curls and waves around her face.

"You can come in now!" Murphy called absently, walking to the other side of her room to where she'd left her medic bag. She heard the door open behind her, but paid him no mind as she picked up the bag and turned to face Daryl. He wasn't looking at her and seemed more interested in the bottle in his hands. She raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off and approached him. "Here." She said, unable to control her harsh tone of voice.

"The hell ya' mad at me for?" He asked grumpily and made no move to take the bag from her, narrowing his eyes at her sudden and uncalled for anger at him. To the best of his knowledge, he didn't remember pissing her off too much that day, so he didn't see the need for the rage in her usually mischievous eyes.

"I'm not-" She sighed and shook her head. "Never mind, I'll take it to him myself." She rolled her eyes and stepped around him to walk out of the room.

"Bambi-" He let the name slip out before he could stop it, but it caused her to freeze nonetheless. She slowly turned to face him and her shock was apparent on her face; her eyes were wide, brows furrowed, and mouth slightly agape.

"What did you just call me?" She asked quietly, eyeing him from head to toe in interest.

His silence was long and Murphy didn't know how to take it really. She knew he was more than a little buzzed by the amount of alcohol missing from his bottle and she'd already been unintentionally hurt by his apparent ignoring of her being feminine. She didn't necessarily know what to expect from the man.

"I called ya' Bambi." He finally told her and she nodded dumbly, already knowing that was what he'd said, but not necessarily knowing exactly _why_ he'd called her it. "Ya' remind me of the deer. All big, brown eyes an' all." He didn't meet said eyes and instead focused on the wall behind her head.

What he didn't know was that Murphy actually took his strange words as food for thought and her mind ran a mile a minute in order to process this before she said anything in return. He'd just given her a nickname based upon her appearance and it wasn't really a harsh name. It was actually...kinda sweet. She took it as a compliment and realized that even though Daryl was obviously a man that didn't really take too much thought into women at all, he'd still taken into account of her appearance. And he'd given her an almost cute nickname based off of it. It was enough for her to rethink his apparent disregard for her earlier.

"Awe... That's cute." She grinned up at him and his eyes narrowed at her.

"It ain't cute!"

"Not the nickname." She chuckled, shaking her head before she smiled gently up at him. "What's cute is the fact that you're fucking embarrassed of actually calling me that. Let me guess, that's what you've been calling me in your head rather than actually calling me by name like everybody else?" His silence was answer enough. "You can call me that since you seem to fucking refuse to call me Murphy."

"Ain't gonna happen, Singer." His bottle was tipped back as he took a hearty swig and her grin could only grow larger at his obviously flustered nature. Huh. Liquor apparently made Daryl easily embarrassed. It certainly did have different effects on people...

"Alright, how about this... You get to call me Bambi when no else is around if...you teach me how to shoot your crossbow." She bargained thoughtfully. Ever since she'd caught sight of the bolt wielding weapon, she'd wanted to know how to use it.

"No." His response was immediate and she chuckled, knowing that would be his answer. He held on tighter to his crossbow than anything else that he deemed valuable enough to actually keep around during the end of the world.

"Then instead, I won't tell anybody you call me that and you teach me how to shoot your crossbow." If all else fails, blackmailing always worked. And if Murphy knew Daryl even the little bit that she really knew of him... She knew he wouldn't take too kindly to a group of mostly men who wouldn't hesitate on laughing at him for calling her such a "cute" nickname such as Bambi. So after a brief bout of glaring and another swig of SoCo, he pointed at her angrily.

"Fine. But if ya' tell anybody, even Carol or one of them kids? Ya' can bet ya' won't live to see the next day." With that, the gruff man stalked out of the room with the sound of her laughter following him down the hall before it was blocked off by his own door closing. Murphy settled down to just an amused smile and turned, heading down the hall to find Dale and Andrea. She assumed that he wanted the supplies because Andrea had hurt her knee yesterday when she'd basically skidded in the gravel to a stop beside her dying sister. Her bandages most likely needed changing. So once she found Andrea's room, she dropped the bag off with Dale's capable hands and carried on to go back to the dining room to get her abandoned bottle of Rum. While there was alcohol, she was going to take the chance to enjoy it while she could. She hadn't really gotten seriously drunk since her freshman year of college. She was never a drunk to begin with, but she loved to party when she could. Tonight was definitely a night to party, even if she was the only one doing so. And it would be held in her room for the night.

* * *

The next morning, Murphy woke up with a hangover. It wasn't nearly as bad as the one Glenn seemed to have, though. Her's was probably on par with Rick's; annoying, but bearable and not quite as mind throbbing. All she needed was a good Aspirin and some Irish coffee and she'd be fine. She'd seen the Irish whiskey, so she went straight to the cupboard, pulled out a bottle, and walked over to the coffee machine.

"Morning." Carol called with an amused smile. Murphy grumbled out a garbled greeting that would put any Walker to shame and the woman, Sophia, and Carl chuckled in amusement. Lori, however, frowned as the woman they were supposed to be putting their health into poured a healthy helping of the whiskey into her cup of coffee and then top it off with sugar. She didn't even speak to them until she'd drunken a generous amount of her drink.

"Good morning." She smiled pleasantly, coming over to sit beside Carol with an empty seat on her other side.

"You're drinking this early in the morning?" Lori asked condescendingly, raising her eyebrows at the woman across from her snootily.

Murphy didn't much appreciate that and said as much. "Mind your own damn business. You're not my mom and you're sure as hell not my father, so stop trying to fucking act like them. Besides, this is my hangover cure."

"Your cure to being hungover is more alcohol?" The "much holier than thou" shit was getting annoying to the surgeon-in-training real fast and if the bitch didn't shut her mouth, Murphy couldn't be held accountable for her actions.

"No, dipshit. Irish coffee is great for hangovers. The coffee helps you to wake up and the alcohol numbs the headache enough for it to go away on its own." At her words, comprehension slowly slid over Lori's face and Murphy smirked viciously at her in return. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Maybe next time you'll get your fucking facts straight before you start judging people."

"How do you know about this hangover cure, Murphy?" Carol called her attention back to her before anything else could be said to further ruin the cheery morning. Last night, it was guaranteed that they got a good night sleep last night, whether it be alcohol induced or just plain exhaustion from being on the road for so long.

"Ah, the last time I got this drunk, it was St. Patrick's Day my freshman year of college. And I'm half Irish, so it's in my blood to drink a lot on that particular holiday. I woke up with the fucking _mother _of all hangovers. My roommate at the time had this whole "Hangover Breakfast Cure" thing because she got drunk a hell of a lot more than I did. It was basically a bunch of greasy ass food that you couldn't imagine eating on a normal day. Only thing that really worked with my stomach that day was Irish coffee. I figured that even though that was nine years ago, the cure would still work. And it is, so far." She grinned at the thought and took another sip of her hot, slightly alcoholic beverage.

"Hmm... I'll keep that in mind." Carol turned back to the plate sitting in front of her, which consisted of scrambled eggs and a few slices of bacon.

"You planning on getting drunk, Carol?" Murphy smirked at the very concept, wondering how this timid woman would act if she were ever drunk out of her mind. It was an amusing thought and she vaguely wondered what kind of drunk she'd be. Angry drunk, happy drunk, delirious drunk, love sick drunk, stripper drunk... The list was endless.

"No, but you might. And I'm sure the men are pretty hungover, too. T-Dog's the only one of them really awake and moving around at the moment." The older woman told her softly, gesturing over to where the large black man was cooking at the stove in the kitchen off the dining room.

"Hey, T!" Murphy called out, catching the former's attention. "Can you make mine extra greasy?"

"You want bacon, eggs, or both?" He asked with a grin that showed off the gap between his teeth proudly. Murphy couldn't help but to smile right on back to the gentle giant.

"Both. But could you cook the eggs in the bacon grease?"

"You got it." He nodded before he turned back to his stove. Murphy chuckled at his happy demeanor and turned back to her coffee contently. She wondered briefly what the man had done before all this. He drove a church van, so that gave her a vague clue. She guessed that he worked at a church and had been the one to cook the meals whenever necessary.

"I thought greasy foods didn't help your hangovers?" Carol spoke up her thoughts in concern as she watched Murphy leaning back in her seat comfortably. She seemed to be kicking her hangover's ass and was completely content with lounging there as she waited for her breakfast to finish being prepared. Dimly, they both noticed as Andrea made her way into the room with an extremely hungover Glenn not too far behind.

"They don't, but I love me some bacon grease." Murphy grinned at the fairly disgusted look on both Carol and Sophia's faces at her proclamation. Not many people actually liked the greasy parts of their cuisine; what they didn't know, however, was that Murphy spent the majority of her life eating takeout and fast food. Her family went out on the road plenty of times when she was younger because of her father's constant travelling. Her stomach had long since become like an iron shield and it made her able to stomach practically anything that was thrown at her.

"Morning." Rick called quietly as he walked into the room and pulled up a seat next to Murphy and across from Lori and Carl.

"Are you hungover?" Was the boy's immediate question, shocking his father slightly into furrowing his brows. Murphy merely hid her smirk behind the rim of her mug. "Mom said you'd be."

"Mom is right." The smile on Rick's face was sarcastic, but it didn't deter the boy's cheerful disposition. And what did he not have to be happy about? He had his mother, his father, and a safe place to hunker down for a while. All was right in his little world.

"Mom has that annoying habit." Lori retorted with a small smirk on her face.

"Eggs!" T-Dog grinned as he came around with his pan of fluffy goodness, scooping some out into Murphy's plate first. She grinned right back at him and settled in to eat a good breakfast for once. "Powdered, but... But I do 'em _good_."

"I'm sure they taste fantastic, T." Murphy grinned, accepting the few slices of bacon he had to offer her. Dale took his own seat while Jaqui rubbed a groaning Glenn's shoulders comfortingly. The pour Korean had decided to take it upon himself to prove to Daryl that he wasn't quite as much of a lightweight as he thought he was. Turns out that Glenn could hold his liquor up until they got to the strong stuff. You know that song "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off"? Well, if it were ever rewritten to fit Glenn's drinking habits, it'd be named "Tequila Makes His Common Sense Go Out The Window".

"Bet you can't tell." T-Dog smiled his agreement, coming over to Glenn with a significantly loud voice in the Asian's ear. "Protein helps the hangover." All he received in return was another moan of pain. Murphy giggled lightly and reached over, rubbing the pour Asian's back in support.

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick asked curiously, holding up the bottle of Aspirin they were given earlier that morning to help their headaches.

"Jenner." Lori smiled at her husband's struggles with the pill bottle before he sighed and held it out to her.

"Could you help me, please?"

"He thought we could use it."

"With good reason, too." Murphy grinned over at Glenn, who hadn't looked up once and was still groaning and moaning like he, himself, had turned into one of the walking dead. Now, if it weren't a serious thing, Murphy would have told him straight up that he looked like he'd just risen from the grave. But that particular metaphor wasn't quite a figure of speech anymore, so she refrained from saying it and ruining the partially good mood everyone seemed to be in.

"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." He grunted out and the surgeon beside him chuckled slightly, shaking her head as Shane arrived into the room. The only one that was missing from their group now was Daryl and they all assumed that he was taking his sweet ass time to get up for once. Usually, the redneck was up at the crack of dawn and out finding them all breakfast. Since he didn't need to do that here, they let him sleep in longer and figured he'd wake up on his own soon.

"That's what we all say, Glenn, but then we end up drinking again. Maybe next time you'll keeping your damn hands off the tequila." She smirked behind a forkful of eggs while Shane, Rick, and T-Dog spoke around them.

"I blame you and Daryl." Glenn moaned, leaning forward to rest his forehead against the cool table top.

"Hey, you could've put the alcohol down at any time, man." Murphy rubbed his back soothingly, taking a sip of her partially warm coffee. She watched the man for a moment before she sighed and placed her cup in front of him. "Here. This might help a bit."

"What is it?" Glenn didn't even bother looking up, so with a smile of amusement, Murphy placed a gentle hand on his chest and helped him to sit up so he could focus on what she'd place in front of him.

"It's Irish coffee. It always helped me with hangovers, so I figured it could be worth a shot. Give it a go." She gestured to the mug and turned back to her food as Jenner walked into the room with Daryl not too far behind him. Murphy glanced up at the redneck and couldn't help the smirk she felt coming onto her lips at the dim memory of last night. His eyes looked down to her, but he pursed his lips and pushed on towards the coffee machine without so much of a word to her. She bit her bottom lip to keep from chuckling at his obviously uncomfortable nature, shaking her head lightly.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..." Dale started quietly, watching as Jenner poured himself a cup of coffee before handing the pot off to the waiting redneck beside him.

"But you will anyway."

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea proclaimed seriously, turning in her seat to look at the doctor head on. Murphy frowned quietly to herself and quickly finished off her breakfast, wiping her now greasy hands on a napkin that T-Dog had kindly set out for everyone earlier. Jenner was looking at them all in contemplation and before they knew it, they were all walking towards the big room. Murphy turned when she didn't see Daryl walking out of the dining room and frowned when she spotted him pushing aside his still full plate with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" She asked him curiously and received a blank stare in return. She rolled her eyes and snatched a piece of bacon from his plate. "You're gonna regret not eating that. You watch and fucking see." She remarked before she turned and headed out of the dining room. She could hear Daryl's quiet footsteps behind her and wasn't surprised when he came up to walk in step with her, snatching the bacon strip out of her hand before she could even take a bite out of it.

"Not good to get used to it. Who knows how long we'll be here?"

Murphy smirked. "Nah, I think you just like the taste of squirrel and deer better than pork." When he was silent, she shook her head with a small chuckle and he just placed the bacon in his mouth and ate it whole.

When they entered the big room, Jenner was typing something into one of the front computers while the others took places around the room to listen to what the doctor had to say to them. This was perhaps their only chance to learn what was going on and they weren't about to miss a minute of it.

* * *

**Author's note: So? Whatchu guys think? Inquiring minds wanna know! Please review, guys! I know you're out there. I know we all have that urge to just read a story and not give feedback...hell, I do it all the time -... But we writers need that feedback to see what we're doing wrong so we can try to fix it. It helps the creative mind to better itself. So, please, review... REVIEW LIKE THE WIND!**


	4. Chapter 4 TS 19

**Disclaimers: I do not own the Walking Dead. I do not own any characters in this show, which is a true shame in reality...**

**NRIASB: Thank you so much for the compliments on my OC! :3 You have NO idea how much it means to me that you like Murphy. I was really hesitant about her character to begin with. I've seen so many fics with Daryl where the OC is this meek little woman that's happy to just let the men do all the dirty work. I wanted to write a story that allowed me to remedy that while also having a bit of Norman Reedus' take on how Daryl would react to having a love interest. Daryl wouldn't be suave and he sure as hell wouldn't be friendly, especially in the first few chapters of knowing the woman. Thanks so much once more for the kind words!**

* * *

Chapter 4 "TS 19"

"Give me a playback of TS-19." Dr. Edwin Jenner order aloud once everyone had entered the big room and taken stances around the room in order to see and hear what he was prepared to show them.

"Playback of TS-19." Vi replied mechanically as the large screen in front of them flickered to life and began to show a window that said "LOADING DATA SET."

"Few people ever got a chance to see this." Jenner informed the Atlanta survivors, observing each and every one of them. They were certainly an odd group of people. But Jenner knew that survival wasn't about who you liked and who you didn't. It was about putting up with the people you didn't like in order to reach a common goal. These people had survived this long together. In his eyes, he thought it was both admirable and stupid. "Very few."

"Is that a brain?" Carl's question brought everyone's attention back to the big screen. There was an outline of a human being with a neon blue brain. Murphy tilted her head to the side as she crossed her arms over her chest thoughtfully before she glanced over to stare at Jenner. Daryl noticed this from his place standing beside her and narrowed his eyes upon the doctor.

"An extraordinary one." Jenner smiled at the little boy. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V."

"Enhanced internal view." Vi zoomed their view in through the side and into the brain. Once inside, they were able to see bright flashing lights throughout the model of the brain. A small smile grew on Murphy's face at the beautiful sight and the awe that spread over Sophia and Carl's faces.

"What are those lights?" Shane questioned and Daryl glanced over at him for a moment then looked down at Murphy to see that gentle smile there. He was surprised and he quickly wondered what exactly those lights were. Good question, pig, Daryl thought dimly.

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories." Jenner explained to the group of people. "It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique. And human."

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked after a short moment of silence.

"They're synapses." Murphy mumbled out quietly and her eyes widened when everyone, including Jenner, turned to look at her. She cleared her throat and began to speak louder. "They're...electric impulses in the brain. They tell your body what's going on. How you're feeling, what you say, what you do, how you think... Beginning from birth...and ending in death."

"Death?" Rick raised an eyebrow at her, but quickly turned towards Jenner when she nodded her reply. "That's what this is, a vigil?"

"Yes. Or rather the...playback of the vigil." Jenner reported distractedly.

"This person died?" Andrea frowned. "Who?"

"Test Subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process." The doctor told them all grimly. They were all silent for a moment and soon enough, Jenner turned to look at the screen once more. "Vi, scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning to first event." The screen quickly switched to a brain with black and dark red vein like structures spreading throughout the stem of the brain. The bright blue lights were slowly dimming to match the rest of the brain's dull blue.

"What is that?" Glenn asked in shock.

"It invades the brain like meningitis." Jenner explained. "The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." TS-19 seemed to be gasping for air for a while before the brain slowly faded to black, signifying that the subject had, indeed, died. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be...gone."

Andrea's eyes filled with tears and she looked down in order to try and hide them. Sophia looked up at her mother innocently. "Is that what happened to Jim?"

"Yes." Carol nodded and Murphy had to admire that the woman didn't bother to sugarcoat it. This world wasn't built for weak people; if Sophia were to survive, she needed to toughen up. Telling her the truth about what was going on was a good way to start.

"She lost somebody two days ago." Lori explained to Jenner's curious look at Andrea's tears. "Her sister."

"I lost somebody, too. I know how devastating it is." Jenner said, almost as if to comfort the distraught blonde. In Murphy's eyes, it didn't seem to help at all. "Scan to the second event."

"Scanning to second event." Vi's voice broke them all out of their thoughts and they looked towards the big screen once more.

"The resurrection times vary wildly." Jenner informed them, quickly trying to get back to their main topic. "We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds."

A red, glimmering light began to glow throughout the stem of the brain, slowly moving out towards the rest.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked, shocked of something like that happening.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Rick questioned, hoping it were so. If not, he had been killing live, innocent people for the past few weeks.

"You tell me." Jenner replied with a gesture to the screen.

"I think what he means, Rick, is that they _are_ alive to an extent." Murphy spoke up quietly, but she never took her eyes off of the slowly turning test subject on the screen, watching intently as the red lights swirled throughout the brain stem. "The part of the brain that "makes you, you"... That part dies when the brain stops working and the person you were before is gone. Basically dead for all intents and purposes. But when the brain stem starts working again...it's not the same person. It's just...a mindless being, searching for food and doing anything they can to get at it. Right?" She turned a curious eye to Jenner to see if her prediction is correct. She was fairly sure that it was, but he was the expert in this area, not her.

"Precisely." He nodded with a slight smile at her. This young woman was quite intuitive, despite her bad attitude, sharp tongue, and ability to curse like a sailor. She reminded him of his wife in some ways. "The frontal lobe, the neo-cortex, the human part; that doesn't come back. The _you_ part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

Murphy her brows curiously and watched as a small...something appeared in the corner of the big screen before a flash of blue went straight through the brain and out the other side. The test subject immediately went still, now dead for sure.

"God. What was that?" Carol turned to look at Jenner, surprised at what just happened.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea mumbled quietly, slowly letting her eyes drift to the distracted doctor. "Didn't you?"

Rather than answering her question, Jenner turned and began to walk away. "Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations."

"Powering down main screen and workstations."

Daryl eyed the "good doctor" distrustfully as he came to a stop next to Murphy. The man stood a little too close to the woman for his liking and Daryl didn't understand why it bothered him so much.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea growled out, impatient that Jenner seemed to be ignoring the situation and continuing on like normal in his little underground paradise.

"Yeah, what kind of disease is this?" Murphy demanded, spinning to look up at the doctor through narrowed brown eyes.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."

"Or the wrath of God?" Jaqui was completely serious, believing it to be a possibility. Murphy, however, was a firm believer in science and knew that whatever this infection was, it had to be something scientific. Something that could be found on Earth.

"There is that." Jenner nodded, but even he doubted that.

"Somebody must know something." Andrea insisted. "Somebody somewhere."

"There are others, right?" Carol's voice caused the main to turn and look at where she stood with her daughter behind him. "Other facilities?"

"There may be some. People like me."

"But you don't know?" Rick was having a hard time keeping his temper in check. This seemed to be the last hope for them to find out what was going on and the only doctor left in the whole damn place didn't even know what this thing was? If that were so, they were all effectively screwed. "How can you not know?!"

"Everything went down." Jenner sighed out. "Communications, directive; all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here." It wasn't a question. It was a statement from Andrea.

"Europe, South America, hell, the Caribbean islands?" Murphy had thought that this disease was contained to just America, but it seemed to be spread out all over the world. If that were true and the American government had already fallen as far as it has...

"There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing?" Andrea's hope was quickly dwindling to nothing and when that happened, she became sarcastic and bitchy. "That's what you're really saying, right?"

"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk." Daryl grumbled and leaned heavily against the station next to Murphy. She raised an eyebrow as he shoved his hands through his hair.

"Again?" She asked quietly and he grunted with a nod.

"Again."

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but..." They all turned once Dale had stopped talking, wondering what else he could ask. They'd found out how the infection works and that there was no current possible way to stop it, or even what the hell it was. That was why they'd come to the CDC in the first place. What else could they possibly ask about? "That clock." That was when they all noticed a large digital clock resting on the wall to the left of them, slowly counting down with large, red numbers with one hour left. "It's counting down. What happened at zero?" Good question, Dale.

"The...basement generators. They run out of fuel." Jenner told them after a moment's hesitation, then began to make his way away from them.

"And then?" Rick did not appreciate it when the man just continued to walk out of the room. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

"What the hell is that?" Murphy asked quietly, only to be greeted with silence from everyone around her. Rick sighed and thought for a moment, but then soon turned towards them.

"Alright, here's what we'll do. Glenn, T-Dogg, Shane, and I'll go check out the generators, see if we can somehow find some more fuel for them. The rest of you, go to your rooms and start packing, just in case." He ordered and they didn't dare argue. They just quickly left the big room and spread out in order to do what they were told.

"I don't like this." Murphy said to Daryl as they hurriedly walked down the hall towards their rooms at the end. "The way he just walked off like that. What the fuck's going on?"

Daryl glanced around quickly before he softly pushed the woman into his room. She looked up at him with a frown, but it soon morphed into understanding when he picked up the half-empty bottle of Southern Comfort from the table beside the door and handed it over to her. Once she'd taken a healthy sized gulp and felt the alcohol burn its way down her throat, Daryl raised an eyebrow down at her.

"You good now, Bambi?" The nickname snapped her out of her panic and she sighed, but nodded her head. "Good. Now, just pack up your shit and make sure you're prepared to go if the time comes to it."

Murphy searched his face and bit her bottom lip worriedly. "But, Daryl...where else are we gonna go? This was our last chance. We're out of food, we're out of gas, water... We won't stand a fucking chance in hell out there in our current situation."

"Bambi!" His yell made her stop babbling along and her eyes widened even more, as if it were possible, but the fact that he'd seemingly unknowingly placed his hands on her shoulders was even more shocking. "We're gonna be fine." He assured her seriously, making sure to keep eye contact in order to show her how sure he was. "No matter what. We _will_ get outta here and we _will _survive. I'll make sure of it." All was silent between them as Murphy slowly came to terms with the fact that she was losing her grip on reality. Here was Daryl fucking Dixon, _comforting_ her. Making sure she knew she'd be safe out in the world because he would make it happen. He didn't know why he even told her that, but he knew it was out of character of the redneck. He didn't protect people; hell, he didn't even _like_ people. What made her so special? Even he didn't know the answer to that.

But she nodded her head slowly anyway. Daryl raised an eyebrow and watched as she slowly lifted her hand and placed it over one of his, which were still resting on her shoulders. Her touch was gentle, something he was not used to, so he flinched away and quickly dropped his hands away from her.

He cleared his throat and looked away from her, reaching out and taking the bottle of alcohol away from her. "Best get to packin' then." His words were raspy and Murphy nodded silently, knowing that he was pushing her away. She couldn't be mad, or even sad, with him for that. He wasn't hers. If he wanted to push her away for getting too close to him, she was fine with that. But her stubbornness wasn't about to let him keep her at arms length forever. For now, however, she left his room to go to her's and begin packing. Rick was right; it was best to be prepared in case they had to leave in a hurry. She'd worry about Daryl later.

* * *

The next few minutes passed in a blur for Murphy. She remembered rushing into her room to do as Daryl had told her, but the next thing she knew, her bag was completely packed and she was yanking her boots onto her previously bare feet. She knew that she needed to be prepared for whatever happened next. She had also changed out of her pajamas from the night before and into a pair of low ride jeans and a blue and white pinstriped button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She began to pace nervously around her room as she toyed with one of her wavy curls. She was anxious for whatever was going to happen next. When she'd left the retirement center not even...two days ago, she never thought she'd be facing "self decontamination" in the CDC with people that were pretty much strangers to her. Sure, she'd made friends with a lot of them, but she doubted she'd feel much pain if they were to die and she was sure the feeling was mutual. Especially when it came to Lori. And Shane.

It was then that the air decided to turn off. In a normal world, Murphy wouldn't have even noticed. But now...now she knew that something was up. Whatever self-decontamination was, you could bet it was nothing good and had everything to do with the air turning off. So in her curiosity, Murphy wandered out of her room and towards Daryl's room with furrowed brows and a nervous wringing of her hands. He was lounging on his couch/bed with his half empty bottle of SoCo in hand.

"Stupid question, I know, but did your air turn off?" She asked, leaning into the room with her hands placed on either side of the door frame to look at him. He glanced up and wordlessly nodded before he stood and walked towards her. Murphy glanced out into the hallway when she heard the questioning mumbles coming from their fellow survivors. "What the hell's going on now?" She stood straight and crossed her arms over her chest. Daryl frowned and glanced passed her to see a few of the others were quickly walking down the hall. He gently moved her aside and hung out his room with his alcohol hanging limply from his hand. Murphy leaned against the wall outside his room and watched as Jenner came from the other end of the hallway at a fast pace.

"What's going on? Why is everything turning off?" Daryl questioned and looked up in mild surprise when Jenner snatched his alcohol from his hand.

"Energy use is being prioritized." The good doctor informed them in a decidedly dull tone as he continued down the hall. Daryl glanced back at Murphy to find her glaring after Jenner with obvious worry. Together, along with the other survivors, they followed after the man to find out what was going on. Above them, the lights turned off without even a flicker beforehand. As the others continued to ask Jenner about what was happening with the power, Murphy worriedly began to chew her nails. It was a nervous tick she'd had for as long as she could remember. Along with retreating into her mind to find a safe, warm place to hide until she knew she could prevent the danger towards her from happening. She was glad to say that rarely happened, but sad to admit that it was happening now.

Daryl's reaction to being locked in was less than calm, to say the least, but he was born to wander. If he was locked up in one place for too long, he couldn't handle it and started to get restless. So throwing bottles and threatening to murder the good doctor with an axe? Completely justified to the redneck. When he didn't hear a peep out of their resident loud-mouthed doc, however, he turned to see where she was.

Murphy had taken to sitting against a desk on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees and a vacant expression in her wide doe eyes. She barely even had a reaction when Jenner and Vi explained what self-decontamination really is. She just closed her eyes and leaned her head back and closed her eyes with her brows pinched together as if she were in pain.

Daryl had never thought that Murphy Singer, of all people, would be having a break down at that moment. He figured she'd be yelling along side him and trying her best to break that door down. But there she sat on the floor across from where he stood. He expected her to react when Shane took a gun to Jenner's head, but she didn't open her eyes until she heard the gunshots going off around her.

She worried her bottom lip between her lips before she stood and took the ax from the table that Shane had set it on earlier. She ignored the stares of Daryl and Dale, as well as the words spoken by Jenner to the group, and started towards the metal door with a determined bounce in her step now. Once she reached the door, she took a standard batter's position and immediately swung out at her target with an angry grunt.

"Tha' won't work." Daryl told her quietly as he stepped up to the door, far enough away from her to not get hit by the ax when she brought it back, only to swing it forward once again.

"I did not get out of that fucking retirement home just to die in a damn explosion two days later, Daryl." She pointed a finger up at him with an angry glare set into her freckled face. He merely stared down at her, so she turned and continued to swing at the door uselessly. "I've gotta try. What's the use of living if I can't control my fate? I. Will. Not. Fucking. Die. Like. This!" The last sentence was spoken slowly as she hit the door between words.

It took him a moment, but Daryl stepped up next to her and assisted her with trying to break down the door with his own ax. While the others were trying to reason with the psycho doctor, they might as well try and break through the thing keeping them in to the best of their abilities. A loud clang echoed with each hit, but it didn't deter them a bit. Little scratches appeared here and there and it was becoming clearer and clearer to Murphy that maybe her efforts were useless after all. Maybe this was how she was meant to die. Maybe the doctor was right and this was really the only way out. She knew she was going to die one day. Of course she did. She was a doctor, after all. But she had no idea it would be at the hands of a crazy, widowed scientist that thought he was doing them all a favor.

Murphy was about to call it quits and admit defeat when the door lowered into the ground once more and allowed them to leave. While Daryl called back to the others, Murphy was bouncing from foot to foot excitedly with a bit of a grin on her face, preparing herself to high tail it the hell out of there. They only had four minutes to get out of there, but Rick was taking his time to have a conversation with the psycho and Jaqui and Andrea decided to stay put rather than dying like Jim and Amy had. While the others rushed for the surface, Dale stayed behind to try and convince them to leave, as he was bound to do. Daryl grabbed Murphy's arm to hurry her along more quickly as he clutched his ax in his other hand. She had dropped hers to run faster and she could just feel that she'd regret it later on.

After grabbing their belongings from their rooms, they hurried to the front doors and Murphy stood back as the men took turns trying to break the windows to allow them to get out. Daryl and Shane had taken to swinging their axes at the glass and T-Dogg had even attempted a metal chair that only got scratches for their efforts. Even a buckshot from Shane didn't help. Finally, just when Murphy was beginning to doubt their survival again, Carol stepped up with (can you believe it) a hand grenade from her bag.

Daryl shoved Murphy roughly down the stairs and crouched down beside her. He pushed her head down and she put her hands over her ears and tucked her chin to her chest in preparation for the blast. Rick barely got out of the way in time before the small explosion knocked out the glass on a window and guaranteed their survival once more.

"Here." Murphy muttered as she took Daryl's bag from him and swung her own onto her back. He looked at her curiously as they both jumped out of the window. "Put that ax of your's to good use, redneck." She grunted tiredly and waved towards the oncoming Walkers. They had no time to deal with the undead, so they didn't bother with staying still for too long and just made a break for their vehicles.

Once they'd reached Daryl's truck, the quickly climbed into the seats with seconds to spare and Murphy found herself once more pushed down to avoid a much larger and deadlier explosion by Daryl. She could feel the heat from his chest on her back and did her best to ignore it as her ears rung. The explosion seemed to last forever, when it only lasted maybe five seconds. When it was safe, Daryl pushed himself back upright and glared at the now burning remains of the building they'd just vacated.

Murphy stared, as well. How could she not? Never had she considered the fact that she'd ever be cheating death like she just had. She knew as well as anybody else did that they were supposed to die in that explosion. They all were. But they'd made it out, by sheer words and the emotions getting the best of their would be savior.

"Dale and Andrea... They made it out." She mumbled, her voice seeming loud in the sudden silence that had passed over them after the booming explosion had settled. Daryl made a quick glance at her before turning his head to check on his brother's bike. Merle would kill him if something were to happen to it.

The RV began to pull out and the caravan began once more down the highway. Murphy watched in her side view mirror as the remains of the CDC disappeared behind them. Gone was their protection. They'd gotten too comfortable, like Daryl had warned her about just earlier that day. Not even two hours ago, really. Time seemed to pass much slower now and she wondered if it would always be like that. Hell, Murphy didn't even know what day it was. But that was the least of her worries at that moment. She had one real question now. Where were they supposed to go now?

* * *

**Author's Note: And there we have it! The end of season one :D I gotta say, the short CDC arc was probably one of my favorites. I loved those scenes, but, alas, life must go on. So what'd you guys think of Murphy's scientific take on the Walkers? Hope you guys like it because there will be a few other scenes like that, as well as quite a few more one on one scenes with Daryl and Murphy (it _is_ a Daryl/OC story, after all). I will be taking a bit of creative licensing in the next chapter, but it will still follow the story line to a point. Tell me what you guys think of this chapter, though, because I believe it is the shortest chapter yet, especially compared to the last chapter. Creative criticism is approved of, as well as encouraged! PLEASE REVIEW! My little squirrel (review) munching Daryl is dying from hunger...**


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